• One thing has remained constant for the past six decades: the red carpet.
• The shades varied, but there was always a specific shade of red until this year.
• Workers unfolded a champagne-coloured carpet on Wednesday, March 8, in front of the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

For the first time since 1961, the Oscars carpet won’t be red this year. Although many things about the Academy Awards have changed over the years, one thing has remained constant over the past six decades: the red carpet.

The shades varied, but there was always a specific red shade until this year.

On Wednesday, March 8, in front of the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, workers unfolded a champagne-coloured carpet while Jimmy Kimmel, who will host the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 12, presided over the event.

“ I think the decision to choose a champagne carpet instead of a red carpet shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed,” Kimmel said. The decision to change colour came from creative consultants Lisa Love, a long-time contributor to Vogue magazine, and Raúl Àvila, creative director of the glamorous Met Gala in New York.

This year, the carpet will be covered to protect stars and cameras from the weather and help turn the arrival into an evening event.

For Love, there has always been a mismatch between the elegant black tie dress code and the fact that it is mid-afternoon when people arrive to be photographed in daylight. With a covered carpet, they could change this. “ We’ve turned a day-to-night event,” Love told The Associated Press. “It’s evening, even though it’s still 3:00 a.m.

The red carpet of the Oscars dates back to 1961, from the 33rd Academy Awards, which took place at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium when the film “The Apartment” by Billy Wilder won the award for best picture, Burt Lancaster and Elizabeth Taylor won the awards for the leading roles. There was still an “award for youth” awarded to Hayley Mills for “Pollyanna”.