Long before red car­pet inter­views begin and the best and worst dressed are debat­ed, fash­ion brands have a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty at the Oscars to place their prod­ucts on Hollywood’s elite at what could be the year’s most-watched enter­tain­ment event.

Like many con­sumer-fac­ing goods, estab­lished, well-known fash­ion brands have vast resources for pro­mo­tion, which means some­thing of a David/Goliath sit­u­a­tion for small­er design­ers com­pet­ing with the likes of Valenti­no, Oscar de la Renta, and Alexan­der McQueen. But the stakes are high. Even for lux­u­ry goods, celebri­ties hold immense sway over the gen­er­al pub­lic and a sin­gle image can dri­ve an almost unbe­liev­able sales spike. Look at the $849 zebra print Ver­sace pants Cam New­ton wore to the Super Bowl, which sold out online short­ly there­after. Or Rihanna’s $9,000 ear­phone-tiara com­bo from Dolce & Gab­bana, which sold out 24 hours after she tweet­ed a pho­to.

lis­ten­ing to ANTI pic.twitter.com/AgqlhU0GEz

— Rihan­na (@rihanna) Jan­u­ary 25, 2016

At the same time, unlike Aver­age Joes and Janes, celebri­ties are not lim­it­ed by bud­gets or logis­tics. So how do fash­ion brands appeal to the most renowned con­sumers on earth? And on one of the most impor­tant nights of their careers, no less? To get a behind-the-scenes look at the road fash­ion brands take to the red car­pet, we spoke to sev­er­al indus­try insid­ers:

• Don O’Neill, cre­ative direc­tor for evening­wear col­lec­tion Theia, which dressed nom­i­nee Emma Donoghue on Sun­day and has pre­vi­ous­ly dressed Oprah Win­frey at the 2012 Oscars and Gabourey Sidibe at the 2014 cer­e­mo­ny.
• Jay Lakhani, founder of lux­u­ry jew­el­ry and acces­sories brand Deepa Gur­nani, which says it is “com­mit­ted to bring­ing the gen­er­a­tions-old skill of bead­ed hand embroi­dery from India into the main­stream” and has helped acces­sorize Tama­ra Krin­sky for the 2015 Oscars and Car­rie Under­wood for the 2015 CMT Awards.
• And Lisa Mon­teleone, founder and pres­i­dent of LTM Mar­ket­ing and Com­mu­ni­ca­tions, which reps the Anne Bowen label, which designed a gown with over $5 mil­lion in dia­monds worn by TV per­son­al­i­ty (and Steven Soder­bergh wife) Jules Asner at the 2002 Oscars.

Here’s their insight.

I think this is the begin­ning of a beau­ti­ful friend­ship. – Casablan­ca: Best Pic­ture, 1944

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kiNJcDG4E0 The out­reach time­line varies by design­er, but has gen­er­al­ly been ini­ti­at­ed by the time nom­i­na­tions are announced in Jan­u­ary. Although, of course, there are excep­tions. “For us, it usu­al­ly begins once nom­i­na­tions come out,” O’Neill said. “How­ev­er, there are cer­tain­ly ‘insid­ers’ who have indi­ca­tions of the nom­i­nees before they’re announced and the process begins even soon­er.” For its part, Lakhani said Deepa Gur­nani typ­i­cal­ly works eight weeks in advance with styl­ists to pitch its col­lec­tion to their clients.

Gor­geous isn’t every­thing. – Terms of Endear­ment: Best Pic­ture, 1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjLFMTIDkIM Indeed, styl­ists are the key to con­nect­ing with celebri­ties, insid­ers say. “Per­son­al rela­tion­ships are def­i­nite­ly help­ful with the styl­ists, but we are a small brand and the sheer vol­ume of evening gowns that pour out of the sky over Los Ange­les in to the arms of styl­ists is stag­ger­ing,” O’Neill said. “This is not a game for the faint of heart. Lav­ish hotel suites are booked by the top design­er brands at the chicest hotels in Hol­ly­wood, they are filled with the newest col­lec­tions of dress­es, shoes and jew­els and styl­ists are wined, dined and pam­pered from suite to suite.” Mon­teleone agrees it all comes down to the styl­ists, who are the gate­keep­ers between design­ers and celebri­ties. “Styl­ists attend run­way shows and are sent look­books from the design­ers to get a sense of the designer’s vision for the sea­son,” she said “Then they might reach out to the design­er or the design­er [might] proac­tive­ly [reach] out to the styl­ists of celebri­ties the design­er would like to dress. That’s when the dance begins.”

I coul­da been a con­tender. – On the Water­front: Best Pic­ture, 1955

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBiewQrpBBA There cer­tain­ly is some chore­og­ra­phy as well. In fact, per O’Neill, design­ers don’t real­ly have the pow­er to sway celebri­ties, unless they are the face of a brand with a mul­ti-mil­lion-dol­lar ad cam­paign or a prod­uct like a per­son­al fra­grance is in play. How­ev­er, Lakhani said a brand sto­ry can help. “Celebs love to hear a sto­ry that is gen­uine,” Lakhani said. “Also, we have to make sure that the celebri­ty can relate to our brand. That is very impor­tant.”

I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse. – The God­fa­ther: Best Pic­ture, 1973

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeldwfOwuL8 Then there are the intan­gi­bles. Like, for instance, for the 2016 Oscars, O’Neill said a bit of kismet came into play thanks in part to a mutu­al friend and a shared her­itage with Donoghue. “She is Irish and liked very much the idea of sup­port­ing and wear­ing an Irish design­er,” said O’Neill, who was born in a vil­lage in the west of Ire­land. “This is a big year for Ire­land at the Oscars with a total of nine nom­i­na­tions. She felt it was impor­tant not only to show­case Irish film tal­ent, but [to] share the glob­al spot­light with an Irish fash­ion design­er.” Donoghue was nom­i­nat­ed for her adapt­ed screen­play for her nov­el Room, which was also up for Best Pic­ture, Best Direc­tor and Best Actress for fron­trun­ner Brie Lar­son.

Big things have small begin­nings, sir. – Lawrence of Ara­bia: Best Pic­ture, 1963

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIPTy5sKX7E Like tim­ing, the type of out­reach varies depend­ing on the celebri­ty as well, although insid­ers agree a healthy mix of opti­mism, hard work, and flex­i­bil­i­ty is vital. In most cas­es, O’Neill said his brand reach­es out to styl­ists via email to let them know they’d like to col­lab­o­rate for an event like the Oscars. “Often­times, it includes send­ing images of the col­lec­tion, sketch­es and fab­ric swatch­es and hope that you’ll hear back,” O’Neill said. “We also tend to reach out to our net­work of styl­ists to see what clients they’ll be dress­ing for the Oscars and also just send along look­book images.” Mon­teleone said most design­ers have show­rooms in Los Ange­les and styl­ists vis­it fre­quent­ly to get a sense of the offer­ings and to learn about new brands. “Usu­al­ly a PR per­son starts the out­reach by con­tact­ing the styl­ist. If there is a rela­tion­ship there, a con­ver­sa­tion begins about what the styl­ist sees for the celebri­ty in terms of col­or, style, etc.,” she said. “The styl­ist should have the look­book so actu­al dress­es can be dis­cussed. Some­times they like some­thing as is and some­times they want mod­i­fi­ca­tions and still oth­er times they ask for some­thing cus­tom. Depend­ing on who the celebri­ty is and how flex­i­ble the design­er is, the process of cre­at­ing the per­fect dress starts.” That means fur­ther col­lab­o­ra­tion between styl­ist, design­er and rep to make sure the stylist’s vision is clear, but the designer’s aes­thet­ic remains intact. Per Lakhani, it’s about putting the right looks togeth­er and cater­ing them to spe­cif­ic celebri­ties in order to put the brand in the best posi­tion. “Every­one wants to dress them, but only a few get lucky,” he said. “It’s a lot of plan­ning, but it does pay off.”

Fas­ten your seat­belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night. – All About Eve: Best Pic­ture, 1951

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg-ckMup6SI Even then, many design­ers have to eager­ly await red car­pet debuts along with view­ers at home. “I have learned the hard way, con­fi­dent that our gown was def­i­nite­ly being worn on the red car­pet, only to see the star step­ping out of the limo in anoth­er designer’s gown,” O’Neill said. “It’s always good to see a behind-the-scenes sneak peek, usu­al­ly tak­en in the limo where a tiny piece of the gown is vis­i­ble in the pho­to and then we can begin to breathe.” In fact, O’Neill said the year Theia dressed Win­frey, the brand had no idea she actu­al­ly wore the gown until halfway through the tele­cast when she stood up to receive an hon­orary award. “The deal is nev­er sealed until we see them wear­ing us on the day of the event,” Lakhani agreed. “It is excit­ing and nerve-wrack­ing.” Per Mon­teleone, some­times a celebrity’s styl­ist or pub­li­cist will call when they’re in the car with con­fir­ma­tion. “My favorite styl­ists send me a quick pho­to of the celebri­ty just as she is leav­ing so I can breathe a sigh of relief. You have your media alert ready to go and send it out then and only then,” she said. “I have seen a few embar­rass­ments when the PR per­son jumped the gun and sent out the release only to spot the celebri­ty on the red car­pet wear­ing some­one else.” Even if a brand’s design is not worn, design­ers still must gra­cious­ly thank styl­ists and celebri­ties for the oppor­tu­ni­ty. “That is how the game is played and we all know going into it how it works. In my expe­ri­ence, the more help­ful and flex­i­ble you are, the bet­ter your chances, but every styl­ist has at least one or two back­up dress­es for their client in case,” she said. “We usu­al­ly fly out to Los Ange­les a few days pri­or to the Oscars with some­one from the ate­lier and maybe even the design­er him- or her­self to attend fit­tings and make sure all is per­fect.” Indeed, last-minute changes are also part of the expe­ri­ence. Mon­teleone points to a design­er she used to work with, Dami­ano Biel­la, who, at the time, was cre­ative direc­tor for Esca­da. She said he made an extra gown that rep­re­sent­ed his vision, but was not one select­ed by the styl­ist, and brought it with him to a fit­ting for the 2008 Oscars. “[Kather­ine Hei­gl] tried it on and it was the one she wore,” Mon­teleone said.

It’s the mag­ic of risk­ing every­thing for a dream that nobody sees but you. – Mil­lion Dol­lar Baby, Best Pic­ture – 2005

In the end, the process is full of con­tent-mak­ing moments. Per Lakhani, the brand typ­i­cal­ly knows it will be worn about an hour before an event, which means it is on stand­by the day of. When styl­ists send con­fir­ma­tions, the brand can start social pro­mo­tion. O’Neill said Theia typ­i­cal­ly uses social media to gen­er­ate excite­ment lead­ing up to the event by post­ing throw­backs from pri­or award cer­e­monies and ask­ing fol­low­ers to stay tuned to see who the brand will be dress­ing this year. Con­tent also includes red car­pet pho­tos, behind-the-scenes fit­tings and sketch­es and pho­tos after the award show to give fol­low­ers an inside peak into the process that goes into cre­at­ing an Oscars gown. Mon­teleone agreed reps for design­ers are very much engaged with their audi­ences and offer insight into the expe­ri­ence so that fol­low­ers feel they are part of the process. Lakhani said Deepa Gur­nani works hard to max­i­mize the press it gets out of large events in part by mak­ing sure all select­ed styles have the cor­rect infor­ma­tion online as con­sumers need to know where to get these pieces after high pro­file events are over. “Keep­ing stock on hand and direct­ing con­sumers to places where the items are avail­able is our main focus,” he added. “Press is a bit tricky, but if we mar­ket the piece cor­rect­ly, we have seen sales triple on these par­tic­u­lar styles overnight. Some become overnight trends and some just stay as clas­sics. It all depends on who wears the piece and how they have worn it that night.”