Oscars fashion: Red carpet looks can make or break careers, and not just for stars

NEW YORK, New York (WABC) -- On Oscar night, careers can be made in an instant, and not just for the nominated actors and actresses.

The outfits seen on the red carpet have the ability to impact the fashion world for years, and designers know that every star stopped on the carpet will be asked who they're wearing.

If you tune in to the show just to see who is wearing what, you're not alone. The Oscars have become a major fashion show, and the red carpet is more than just a step-and-repeat. It's a giant runway.

Marchesa designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig know a thing or two about getting a big boost by designing dresses for the night's biggest nominees.

"It's huge, it really is huge," Chapman said. "When Keren and I were building Marchesa at the very beginning, it really was a time when the red carpet was booming."

Before heading to Los Angeles for the Oscars, Chapman and Craig invited abc7ny to their Chelsea headquarters to discuss their design process and last-minute changes.

"I've literally made dresses or reconstructed dresses in 36 hours out there, and it's exciting," Chapman said. "The adrenaline is pumping."

There is one particular dress that sticks out in her mind.

"This stylist said to me 'I love this cocktail dress you did,'" she said. "I said, 'Wonderful, but it's the Oscars.' And she goes, 'Can you make it into a gown?' This was two days before the Oscars, so I had to tear apart this entire dress and re-construct it."

According to Harper's Bazaar fashion critic Joyann King, the Marchesa designers' hard work has paid off.

"Every time one of these A-listers wears one of their beautiful gowns, they're on our best-dressed list," she said.

For more Oscar's fashion, tune in to ABC's Oscars coverage beginning at 7 p.m. on Sunday, February 28.