This is a case for the fashion police.
If there’s one Lady Gaga-worn gown that has remained in our red carpet-attuned consciousness since she wore it, it would be—aside from her meat-adorned ensemble, that’s a given—the periwinkle blue silk faille Valentino gown she wore to the 76th Golden Globe Awards.
Wearing the gown not only on the red carpet prior to the ceremony, but also to accept her second Golden Globe for Best Original Song for Shallow, the song she penned for film A Star Is Born, which she memorably starred in along with Bradley Cooper. The couture creation was designed by the house’s creative director, Pierpaolo Piccioli, and has gone down in the fashion history books.
But while a stylist typically gets to work on their returns following the event, it seems the singer’s team may have let the rather pressing matter of returning the couture garment back to the Italian fashion house slip off their to-do list.
In recent days, reports have emerged of Gaga’s Valentino gown—or, at least, an extremely accurate replica of it—appearing in an online auction hosted by Los Angeles-based firm, Nate D. Sanders Auctions, with anyone interested in making the dress theirs having to bid higher than US$8,000 (approx. AU$11,700).
As detailed on the auction site, a Beverly Hilton Hotel employee (where Gaga had checked in to get ready for her Golden Globes appearance) claims to have discovered the dress while cleaning the singer’s room following her departure, and promptly turned it into the hotel’s lost and found department on January 8, as reported by Us Weekly.
With no claims made on the gown over the following eight months, the publication reports the hotel then returned the item to the employee on September 3. And according to the auction site, the hotel’s story checks out, with the description paired with the post claiming a “lost and found receipt documenting the exchange also accompanies the dress, as does the original garment bag.”
The M.I.A. Valentino Pervinca silk faille gown designed for the singer herself by Pierpaolo Piccioli. Image credit: Getty Images
Speaking out in her own defence, the employee penned her own perspective of the situation, with the letter then posted to the auction site. “Hello, my name is Sarah. I work as a housekeeper at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. I’m always present working the Golden Globes events on January every year for 24 years,” she said, the publication reports.
She continued: “The artist, Lady Gaga, left me this dress that she used for the day of the awards. […] I turned in the dress […] and after the time legally held by lost and found, they gave it to me as a gift from her and today I want to auction the dress.” And auction the dress she has.
But, interestingly enough, the hotel is reportedly yet to confirm these lost-and-found claims, instead stating that they are “conducting an internal investigation to understand exactly what transpired” and that “they have no reason to believe the item was stolen”.
Continuing, a spokesperson for the hotel told Us Weekly in a statement that “the hotel is working closely with all parties involved to retrieve the item and have it returned to its rightful owner as soon as possible.”
And now, the plot thickens. According to ET, a spokesperson for the Beverly Hills Police Department, who is investigating the disappearance of the gown, claims Valentino—who rightfully have ownership over the garment—filed a police report with their department, initiating the investigation in the days following the awards after it seemed to have gone missing.
For the next instalment of the mystery of Lady Gaga’s lost Golden Globes gown, stay tuned.
