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How Olivia Culpo Turned Her Red Carpet Gown Into a Good Cause at the 2017 Oscars

Former Miss USA wears Marchesa

By Kendall Fisher Feb 26, 2017 11:08 PMTags
Watch: Olivia Culpo Stuns in Gown Made of Crystals at 2017 Oscars

Olivia Culpo hit the red carpet at the 2017 Oscars looking breathtaking in a detailed, blue-ish grey gown, but it's not just the appearance of the dress that had us giving her a fashionable round of applause.

The former Miss USA helped custom make the ensemble with Marchesa in order to help fund clean drinking water for people around the world.

She chatted with Ryan Seacrest on E!'s Live from the Red Carpet and explained, "It's in partnership with Stella Artois and Water.org. Stella Artois created chalices and for one chalice sold, five years of clean drinking water is provided for someone in the developing world. So this dress is actually made out of the chalice pieces, and it's encouraging people to get involved in the water crisis and buy the chalice."

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Oscars 2017 Red Carpet Arrivals
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

So how did she go about incorporating the good cause into the design of her gown?

"We wanted the dress to represent water itself, so it's sort of cascading," she explained. "The crystal represents the water as well. We knew we wanted tears."

She continued, "They did an amazing job...and it's fun when you can incorporate good things and charity into fashion!"

As for the nominees tonight, Culpo is rooting for La La Land and Viola Davis

"I loved La La Land just in general," she revealed. "And I thought Viola Davis was incredible in Fences. And she's from Rhode Island and I'm from Rhode Island so..."

Nothing like a little home-state support! And congrats to Culpo for looking good for a good cause.

For complete Oscars coverage, tune in to E! News at 7 p.m. and Fashion Police at 8 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27.