Missi Pyle in Valetina Delfino's design and Meryl Streep in Lanvin.
Photos: Getty Images

There may have been only two eco-friendly dresses on the red carpet at last night’s Academy Awards, but that’s two more than in year’s past.  Two women on opposite sides of the Atlantic, Suzy Amis Cameron in LA and Livia Firth in London, are working to make the red carpet a platform for environmentally aware fashion.  Firth worked with Lanvin to source the eco-certified fabric (through her Green Carpet Challenge) that turned into Meryl Streep’s draped gold gown, while Cameron’s Red Carpet, Green Dress threw a competition to find a design worthy of Oscar night and The Artist‘s Missi Pyle.
Delfino's sketches of Pyle's gown. “The six months leading up to the premiere of Avatar, I knew that I was going to be jumping back into that world [and] walking the red carpet again,” Cameron said of the contest’s origins. “I really wanted to have something meaningful to talk about.” The former actress hopes to launch an eco-friendly clothing line—”I have a tendency to have a little seed of an idea that ends up growing into this global movement”—but for now, she’s happy to draw attention to her pet cause in any way she can. Last night, that meant recruiting Pyle to wear Valentina Delfino’s winning design. As for why Cameron chose Pyle to wear the dress, she says she admires the actress’ lifestyle “because she really walks her walk.” Pyle says she started paying attention to her choices after working with Alicia Silverstone five years ago. “I can choose to buy something made locally in LA or buy something vintage or choose to get something cheaper but maybe made in a sweat shop,” she says. “By no means am I someone who lives a perfect lifestyle, but to be a part of this is something big.”