Neil Lane Talks Collaborating with Angelina Jolie for Suleika Jaouad’s 2024 Oscars Jewelry (Exclusive)

Suleika Jaouad Batiste is getting the real celebrity treatment for the 2024 Oscars.

Not only did the author, activist and wife of musician Jon Batiste wear a dress created by Angelina Jolie — the first to leave her atelier — but she wore a collection of beautiful jewels by famed jewelry designer Neil Lane.

Even better? Jolie came to Lane’s showroom to work with the jewelry designer herself on Suleika’s Oscar outfit.

Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad Batiste at the 2024 Oscars.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Jon Batiste is coming to the 2024 Grammy Awards with wife Suleika Jaouad after she missed the 2022 performance due to a cancer diagnosis

“Angelina has a beautiful, exquisite style and grace, and she knew what she wanted,” he told PEOPLE of working with the actress. “She wanted to use vintage diamond and gold jewelry because it has such a rich warm color and fits her mission of repurposing and sustainability.”

Sulejka’s jewelry included two necklaces, earrings and a ring. Lane tells PEOPLE that one of the necklaces was handmade in France around 1875 and is set with antique mine-cut diamonds and vintage mine-cut diamonds. The second necklace was made in America around 1890 and is set with European cut diamonds in a hand-carved gold floral motif.

Neil Lane Couture necklace.

Neil Lane Couture

The beautiful earrings that Suleika wore date from the end of the 19th century and are decorated with an old rose and European diamonds. As for the ring, Lane designed it himself.

Neil Lane Couture earrings.

Neil Lane Couture

“A ring I designed using a vintage variegated diamond surrounded by rose cut diamonds in a handmade rose gold setting,” he shares.

Neil Lane Couture ring.

Neil Lane Couture

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When Jolie came to Lane’s showroom, the jewelry designer told PEOPLE that the actress described the dress, so he showed off her pieces to complete the look. Jolie, ever the visionary, began “putting ensembles together,” he says.

“She had a vision and she knew it,” adds Lane. “Of course, when I saw [Suleika’s look] at the Oscars, the way she layered the necklaces was amazing and it was a beautiful way to balance out the abundance of silk fabric. Sulejka’s beauty and joy could only be seen and felt. She was beaming.”

Suleika’s one-of-a-kind dress was created in collaboration with artist Chaz Guest, and she shared it on the red carpet ahead of the awards.

“This dress was designed by the one and only Angelina Jolie,” Suleika told Canada’s CTV Etalk. “She designed a red carpet dress for the first time and invited the amazing artist Chaz Guest to paint a symphony on the back.”

The dress — a piece of recycled silk with an image of Jon conducting a symphony painted on the back — was a beautiful nod to the documentary. American Symphony, which also stars Suleika and Jon and was nominated that night.

Jon Batiste Says Grammys Will Be ‘Additional’ With Wife Suleika After Cancer Forces Her To Miss 2022 Show (Exclusive)

Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad Batiste at the 2024 Oscars.

Kevin Mazur/Getty (2)

Suleika further praised Jolie on Instagram for dressing her, thanking the actress for making her feel so comfortable and glamorous after more than two years of treatment for leukemia, which returned in 2021.

“After being in treatment for the last two years, I have a real love affair with clothes. But Angelina made me feel so beautiful and seen that my eyes kept squinting during our screening,” she wrote.

“Having the story of the American Symphony etched into the literal fabric of my dress feels like a map of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. It is the embodiment of love and creative forces that have experienced us.”

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Source: HIS Education