Was 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' director Daniel Scheinert wearing your old suit at the Oscars? It's possible. Here's why.
After winning three Oscars — for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture — on Sunday night, Everything Everywhere All at Once co-creators Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan are the talk of Tinseltown.
Now, adding to the buzz is word that Scheinert's "champagne carpet" look — a black tuxedo suit with multicolored buttons worn with a black tie and dark red dress shirt — was a thrift outfit bought from an Alabama store called Unclaimed Baggage, known primarily for stocking items pulled from suitcases that have been abandoned for at least 90 days by airline passengers around the country.
According to Jennifer Kritner, vice president of retail and company culture at the store, the Alabama-born Scheinert and his family are longtime customers and have made routine visits over the years to grab various looks for big events.
"Daniel shopped here growing up," Kritner tells Yahoo Life. "It's wonderful because his parents are from Guntersville, Alabama, which is probably about a 25-minute drive" from the Scottsboro store.
During the awards circuit for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Kritner says she got wind that Scheinert may have worn some funky items from the store, which immediately inspired her to reach out to the family to confirm the rumors.
"We reached out to his mom and his mom confirmed, 'Yeah, it's hysterical. It's from Unclaimed,'" says Krinter, noting that "early on in Daniel's career, they needed to be going to award shows, and so he snagged [a suit] in the store that happened to fit a very tall, very slender man. So, they added it to his wardrobe."
Scheinert's representatives didn't immediately respond to Yahoo Entertainment's request for comment.
Kritner adds that Scheinert's mom Becky also tried her luck at finding a special item for the Oscars, but did not score: "His mom actually came here to shop for her Oscar dress for this season, but unfortunately, had no luck finding just the right dress," she notes.
Becky confirmed the purchase to local outlets over the weekend, saying, “Years ago, Daniel bought an old tux at the Unclaimed Baggage Center as a prop,” she told a local Birmingham station. “He found that the suit fit him perfectly — Daniel is tall and thin, but it was a perfect match. Daniel figured that he would wear it to the Oscars. Also, his shoes were made from a cobbler who gets his material from old tires."
In an interview leading up to the big event, Becky told AL.com that while the Oscars' red carpet is not her first, it's certainly the most meaningful.
"Ten years ago, he took me to the Grammys when one of his music videos was nominated,” she said at the time. “I got to see the whole process, how the nobodies like me get shuffled off to the side so the somebodies can have full view for the photographers. And that’s fine. I know that he will make it a party for all the cast and crew."
Known for his "far-out wardrobe choices," Kritner says local Unclaimed Baggage shoppers felt a "sense of pride" watching Daniel and his mom at this year's ceremony.
"We think it's really cool that one of Alabama's own that's grown up here is representing Alabama on the champagne carpet this year, as you would have it, with a tux purchased from here," she says. "We have everything you could possibly imagine. People from all walks of life shop here, and that's one of the coolest things about our store."
Kritner also hopes that Scheinert's choice to wear used clothes on the carpet might serve as inspiration for other people to do the same, noting the importance of sustainability in fashion.
"Sustainability is so important to us," she says. "It's important that nothing is wasted."
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