Lady Gaga’s Texas BFF Turns Into an Oscars Star in His Own Right

Could there be a more wildly delighted fashion designer on the planet this week other than native Texan Brandon Maxwell, who dressed Lady Gaga for her most important Oscar moments and also dressed presenter Sarah Paulson and Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy ?

While Lady Gaga wore a billowing black strapless gown by Alexander McQueen on the red carpet, it was an equally billowing but perhaps more stunning Brandon Maxwell black scoop-neck gown that she wore on stage for her sizzling duet with dreamboat Bradley Cooper and for her acceptance of the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Born and raised in Longview, Maxwell was clearly over the moon, posting on Instagram, “Gaga, you have made me feel like an Oscar winner every day since the day I met you… I dreamed of this moment my entire life and for it to come true with one of my best friends almost too much for me to comprehend.”

In another post he wrote “So proud to be part of your monumental night. Love forever.”

The duchess satin gown features a full skirt tightly gathered at waist with a fitted bodice featuring a sportswear-inspired zippered back. For those wanting to capture the glamour, the gown is available at Moda Operandi.

Price tag? A mere $6,495. (We would guess that Elizabeth Anthony could snag that dress for red carpet wannabes.)

Melissa McCarthy, bucking the obligatory ball gown, strutted the red carpet in a Brandon Maxwell custom, two-piece ensemble of flowing black trousers and a caped top.

“Love it,” she told told ExtraTV25. What no ball gown? “I wanted to wear something really strong. I wanted to kind of show my girls that you can go to this and really look empowered,” she said. “I come here and I love to see what everybody is wearing but it has to suit your mood. This was my mood. The minute I saw it, that was it.”

Actress and “style goddess,” as declared by Stylecaster, Sarah Paulson selected a look from Maxwell’s 2019 fall collection in what many considered a “hot pink” confection, but what Maxwell described as fuschia. No quibbling here. It was, as many observers noted, “jaw-dropping.”

The Project Runway judge became Lady Gaga’s stylist in 2012 and launched his eponymous ready-to-wear label in 2015. In 2016 Maxwell, a talented photographer, and collaborator Jessy Price directed Apple Music’s commercial for Lady Gaga’s song “A-Yo.” They have continued to create video campaigns for the Brandon Maxwell label, the most recent spotlighting Houston social diva Lynn Wyatt.