Eva Longoria Discusses Hollywood's Call to Action at the Golden Globes

The Time’s Up call to wear black to the Golden Globes has resulted in one of the most striking impacts on a red carpet in modern history, as hundreds of actors began to arrive on Sunday night. Rather than a somber procession, the women and men who all dressed in shades of black made their case for gender equity in gowns that were elegant, creative, and in many cases exciting. But in light of the message of solidarity their choices were intended to convey, fashion became a footnote at this year’s Globes.

Eva Longoria, who has played a major role in the movement, wore a custom silk jersey gown with a satin v-neck detail inspired by a tuxedo, by Genny, designed by Sara Cavazza Facchini in collaboration with Eva and her stylist Charlene Roxborough.

Here, in an exclusive Q&A, Longoria discusses the impact of the Time’s Up movement on the Golden Globes.

InStyle: First of all, congratulations to you on all the success you’ve achieved with this movement. There have been some interesting conversations happening over the last week about Time’s Up and specifically in fashion about the call to wear black on the red carpet at the Golden Globes tonight. What do you make of the reactions?
The amount of support and solidarity we have been getting from all industries and all people has been amazing. On Twitter, we asked people to wear black if they are watching the Golden Globes and post their pictures, videos, and stories. They’re already pouring in. There was a whole family that posted a picture that said, “Going to church, wearing black for the women of Time’s Up today.”

Time’s Up is a multi-tiered approach to solving the imbalance of power in all industries, not just entertainment, so the Golden Globes is one small pillar of that with a platform of a billion views and eyes to say something. That’s what we wanted to do. We didn’t want to make a fashion statement. We wanted to make a statement of action, and that’s to raise money for this legal fund that is available for everybody who experiences sexual misconduct, harassment, discrimination, assault in the workplace. We wanted to use our voices to amplify that message.

I can only imagine that amplification will be heard tonight. A lot of fashion magazines have already said they won’t even be writing about the best dresses of the night. Do you think it’s OK for people to still talk about fashion when they are on the red carpet?
What we want to focus on is making sure this isn’t a moment, but a movement. Tonight is about women, this act of solidarity, standing linked to each other. We are there to honor those women who came out with their stories, who really kicked down the door for this conversation to even happen: Ashley Judd, Asia Argento, Annabella Sciorra, Olivia Munn, Rosanna Arquette. Tonight is to honor their work that they’ve started and to continue that work.

Looking further into that movement, what would you like to see change in terms of how the red carpet is approached and covered in Hollywood?
This isn’t about a red carpet moment. The change we want is gender equality across all industries. This is not about changing red carpet etiquette. This is about something much bigger. This is about making sure there are no more abuses of power, and the way you change that imbalance is by putting more women in positions of power. There are many arms of Time’s Up. This legal fund is one of them. We have a policy legislation, which is another arm. We have also another led by Jill Soloway trying to get gender equality in agencies, the academy, our union, the networks. Another group of female CEOs is doing the same thing for Fortune 500 companies, trying to make sure there is equity on boards. Today we stand with people from everywhere.

For the record, though, what is your black dress for tonight?
Genny, from Italy. I called, and said, we have two challenges. It has to be black, and I’m pregnant. The creative director, Sara, fully supports this movement and is on board with this movement.

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And how are you feeling, as you’re getting ready for this big moment this evening?
I feel energized. I feel empowered. I feel not alone. And that’s a great feeling to have.