Isabella Rossellini pays blue-velvet tribute to late director David Lynch at Oscars

Papal thriller Conclave (2024) star Isabella Rossellini may have lost out on the Best Supporting Actress trophy at the Oscars on March 2, but the Italian-American veteran won hearts for the poignant outfit she wore.

The 72-year-old actress was in a custom gown made of blue velvet, from Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana, in a nod to her former flame, the late David Lynch.

The American director, who died in January at the age of 78 due to a chronic lung disease, directed Rossellini in her breakout performance in the neo-noir mystery thriller Blue Velvet (1986).

Lynch and Rossellini dated from 1986 to 1991.

Rossellini – a first-time Oscar nominee – wrote in an Instagram post after the ceremony: “I wore blue velvet as an homage (to) David Lynch. We did a film together by this title.”

Her make-up artist Matin Maulawizada, who put blue eyeshadow on the actress, added in another Instagram post on March 3: “She wore blue velvet... The make-up inspiration came from her character, Dorothy Vallens, in the film.”

Rossellini’s character in Blue Velvet had curly brown hair and used bright red lipstick and blue eyeshadow.

To further honour Lynch, Rossellini picked her Blue Velvet co-star Laura Dern as her date to the 97th Academy Awards.

Rossellini also paid tribute to her mother, screen legend Ingrid Bergman.

She wrote in her Instagram post: “I wore Bvlgari jewellery, including the earrings my mother Ingrid Bergman wore when she won the Oscar.”

Rossellini sported a pair of vintage diamond and pearl Bvlgari earrings, which were reportedly a gift from her father, late Italian film-maker Roberto Rossellini, to her mother.

In 1975, Bergman won Best Supporting Actress for the whodunnit movie Murder On The Orient Express (1974). She was named Best Actress for the thriller Gaslight (1944) and the historical drama Anastasia (1956).