Vogue has a step-by-step pictorial on the making of Lupita Nyongo‘s showstopping Calvin Klein dress that she wore to Sunday night’s Oscars. Watch it come together after the jump. 

When it came to her dress, a custom Calvin Klein Collection pearl and ivory beaded gown, for this year’s awards, though, she returned to one of her favorite designers, Francisco Costa, women’s creative director of Calvin Klein Collection. Lupita has become a close friend of the house over the last year,” says Costa. “From the onset, I wanted the dress to be graphic, yet warm and luxurious.” He achieved that sense of luxury by “creating a series of textures with intricate placements of a variety of different-sized pearls,” taking into consideration the distinct qualities of each, combined with the metallic tulle and silk lamé of the dress. “We looked at a variety of different pearls—South Sea, iridescent, and natural—and decided that the natural pearls looked the most beautiful.”

After several rounds of fittings at the Klein showroom in the fashion district, and a few more in Los Angeles, it was clear they had landed on a truly special dress. “The most important aspect of a red-carpet gown is that it stays true to the woman’s spirit and complements her natural essence and personality,” says Costa. “The most successful collaborations bring out the best of both the woman and the house.”