Is There Room on the Oscars Red Carpet for Emerging Designers?

Within a few years of its 2017 launch, New York-based ready-to-wear brand Markarian became a red carpet regular, its sparkling dresses were routinely seen on A-listers like Laura Dern, Kerry Washington and Blake Lively. At the time, red carpet was the cornerstone of the brand’s publicity strategy.

But as bid-budget luxury labels have doubled down on the red carpet, it’s become more of an afterthought.

“It’s impossible for us to keep up,” said Markarian founder Alexandra O’Neill….