Mindy Kaling Favors Romantic Waves in Fluid, Red Lever Couture Gown at 2025 Costume Designers Guild Awards

Mikelle Street

7 February 2025 at 9:17 am·2-min read

Mindy Kaling chose red at the 2025 Costume Designers Guild Awards on Thursday in Los Angeles. There, projects across film and television were awarded for outstanding costume design and illustration. Kaling posed as a presenter alongside the likes of Quinta Brunson, Kate Beckinsale, Colman Domingo and Kathryn Hahn, among others.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 06: Mindy Kaling attends the 27th Costume Designers Guild Awards (CDGA) at Wilshire Ebell Theatre on February 06, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for CDGA) — Mindy Kaling attends the 27th Costume Designers Guild Awards at Wilshire Ebell Theatre on Feb. 6, 2025 in Los Angeles.

For her red carpet look, Kaling wore a red dress from Lever Couture. The look first walked the runway in the brand’s “Leleka”-titled Tokyo collection shown in 2022 during Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. The asymmetric design incorporates an off-the-shoulder detail. The entire dress, including the cascaded train, is made of red mesh fabric treated to resemble the fluidity of water.

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Stylish Erin Walsh chose nude shoes for the look. In addition, Kaling wore diamond-studded silver jewelry.

Lever Couture has found fans in the likes of Tems, who wore the brand to the Oscars; Lady Gaga, Lauren Sanchez as well as Coco Jones are among fans. The company was started by Ukrainian designer Lessja Verlingieri and is based in Los Angeles. The Tokyo collection sourced inspiration in the flags of Japan and Ukraine. In 2023, the brand showed at L.A. Fashion Week.

At the Costume Designer Guild Awards, projects like “Nosferatu,” “Wicked” and “Conclave” took home some of the biggest prizes. Paul Tazewell, who did the costumes on “Wicked” as well as the Broadway production “Death Becomes Her,” took home the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film prize. In addition, “Conclave”‘s Lisy Christl won the Contemporary Film prize. “Shogun’s” CD Carlos Rosario won the Period television category while Bojana Nikitovic of “Dune: Prophecy” won Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV.

Beyoncé’s stylist Shiona Turini took home the prize for Short Film Design as a result of her work on the Super Bowl-premiered “Can’t Be Broken” Verizon commercial. It competed against Beyoncé’s Levi’s campaign, amongst other entries. Janelle Monáe, who showed up in an abstract Viktor & Rolf haute couture look, was presented with the night’s Vanguard Spotlight Award.

CDGA Awards 2025 Red Carpet Arrivals Photos, Live Updates

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Launch Gallery: CDGA Awards 2025 Red Carpet Arrivals Photos, Live Updates

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