Courtesy of Thom Browne
Exclusively for Vogue Philippines, Thom Browne shares the details behind Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s Oscars look and his admiration for the historic Best Cinematography winner.
At the 2026 Oscars in Los Angeles, American-Filipino cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw made history as the first woman, and the first Filipino, Black, and Asian recipient of the Best Cinematography award in the Academy’s history, for Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Best Actor winner Michael B. Jordan alongside Wunmi Mosaku, Jack O’Connell, and Hailee Steinfeld.
For Hollywood’s biggest night, she wore a custom creation by Thom Browne that subtly echoed ‘Amerikana’ tailoring, nodding to the film’s 1932 Mississippi setting. The outfit was composed of a black silk faille skirt, cut to an ankle-length, which grounded the silhouette with a sense of weight and authority, while a white organza shirt introduced a sheer, almost ephemeral contrast.
Over this, a slashed-hem black piqué corset sculpted the body with architectural precision, reinforcing Browne’s signature interplay of tailoring and subversion. The look was completed with a single-button black organza overcoat from the designer’s Fall 2015 archive, intricately detailed with Fair Isle lace embroidery and horsehair inserts, and paired with patent leather court shoes and Cartier jewelry.
For Thom Browne, the intention was clear from the outset. “I wanted to create something strong and timeless for her historical moment,” he shares over email, framing the collaboration as something more enduring than a single red carpet appearance. The choice to incorporate an archival piece reinforced that sense of continuity, situating Durald Arkapaw within a lineage of ideas and values.
The collaboration itself began organically. “We were introduced through one of my oldest and dearest friends, Sarah Jane Wilde, who thought we may find a shared point of view,” Browne explained. That shared sensibility is evident in the final look, which resists spectacle in favor of authority. “Autumn is a true individual and incredibly talented,” he said, a sentiment that underpins the restraint and clarity of the design.
“I am deeply inspired by film, as much as I’m inspired by music, or novels, or art,” he confesses.
Before becoming a designer, Thom Browne pursued an acting career in Los Angeles from 1992 to 1997. During his time in Hollywood, he worked as a production assistant and script reader, and began altering vintage clothes with his roommate Johnson Hartig, who would later established the brand Libertine. A lesser-known detail is that Browne added an “h” to his first name, Tom, in order to join the Screen Actors Guild, as the name was already taken.
“I almost think of my collections in this way, and aim to create an entire world that transports my audiences somewhere else, frozen in time for that moment.” In this cinephile context, dressing Durald Arkapaw becomes an extension of his own storytelling, one that intersects directly with her cinematic language.
It is this convergence of art forms that makes the look resonate beyond its individual components. “Autumn is a true artist, someone who is creating work that makes the world question how they think about a certain idea,” Browne says. “Work that speaks for itself by capturing and showing the audience every possibility of the idea.”
His admiration is unequivocal. “I am inspired by people who are the best at what they do. To me, Autumn is perfection.”
