OSCAR fashion insiders still say that Keira Knightley will wear Chanel on Sunday.

But she has worn quit bit of Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s ethereal Rodarte line, namely, at the London and Los Angeles Atonement premieres.

“She’ll wear Chanel,” a well-connected stylist insisted this morning while we were admiring Rodarte’s peach chiffon gown adorned with diamond brooches at the Diamond Information Center’s fashion show at the Chateau Marmont.

“She’s their fragrance face, and there’s definitely a deal in place.  She may wear Rodarte and other designers like Valentino on other carpets, but not to the Oscars.”

These rumored “deals” are always denied by actresses’ publicists and the design houses. So, for the record, I have absolutely no proof that there is any deal.

What about Keira’s rival, ‘La Vie en Rose’s’ Marion Cotillard, who took home the Best Actress Bafta recently? The French beauty has also worn Chanel on the carpets this season.

Will Keira or Marion be Chanel’s anointed Oscar red-carpet model?

Marion has a better shot at winning the Best Actress Oscar because, hello, she’s nominated for it. And she’s already won the Golden Globe and Bafta for her role in ‘La Vie en Rose.’

Keira’s performance in ‘Atonement’ isn’t Oscar-nominated. But the film is nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. But the favorite in that race is ‘No Country for Old Men.’

So will Herr Karl go for an odds-on Best Actress fave or his nonnominee fragrance face?

We’ll just have to wait until Sunday to find out. Anyway, the Mulleavy sisters are having a very exclusive private fashion bash tomorrow night at the Chateau. And since Keira is bunking at that hip hotel while she’s in town this week, she just may pop in. Maybe she can find something to wear there. (Los Angeles Times)

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OSCAR fashion insiders still say that Keira Knightley will wear Chanel on Sunday.

But she has worn quit bit of Kate and Laura Mulleavy’s ethereal Rodarte line, namely, at the London and Los Angeles Atonement premieres.

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