A white dress that strongly resembles the custom gown taken from Lupita Nyong’o’s hotel room earlier this week turned up on Friday under a bathroom sink in the same hotel, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s official said.
The dress found at a West Hollywood hotel “greatly resembles” the pearl-adorned Calvin Klein Collection by Francisco Costa dress the actress wore to Sunday’s Academy Awards, sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said.
Detectives were trying to verify whether the recovered dress is the same one Nyong’o wore, she said.
One of the actress’ representatives reported the dress was stolen from her room at the London Hotel late on Wednesday.
Authorities placed its value at $150,000 (Dh550,942), although experts say it could have fetched more on the black market.
The recovery of the dress was first reported by TMZ.com, which said that a person claiming to have taken the gown gave the celebrity website information about where to find the dress.
Detectives found it in a black garment bag stashed underneath the bathroom counter.
Nyong’o won an Oscar in 2014 for her role in 12 Years a Slave and was a presenter at Sunday’s ceremony. Her publicists declined comment on Friday evening.
The 31-year-old actress has become a darling of Hollywood’s red carpets in the past two years, with commenters and fans praising her fashion choices. She accessorised the dress with Chopard diamond earrings and diamond rings.
“There are a lot of collectors out there who are very private and have private collections of stolen merchandise,” said style expert and fashion commentator Mary Alice Stephenson. “Some of these dresses have global fame as big as any Van Gogh.”
