Issa Rae Gushes Over Her Custom Sergio Hudson Dress at the Emmys: 'I Love Him as a Designer'

Mar. 15, 2025

Issa Raeis saying farewell toInsecureat her last Emmys for the show, and she’s doing it in style.

The actress walked the carpet at the award show in a custom colorblock Sergio Hudson dress. The black and white look featured thin straps and a geometric cutout in front. The dress also included a black trim that fanned out into a train behind her.

“I love him as a designer; he’s phenomenal,” Rae tells PEOPLE andEW’s Red Carpet Live preshow co-hosts Janine Rubenstein and Jeremy Parsons.

Rae wore her hair in a blunt bob with a very on-trend middle part, keeping her overall beauty look clean and simple.

Getty

“The color, fit and style [of Rae’s gown] immediately took me to a place of beauty and strength”, says makeup artistJoanna Simkin, who was inspired to create “a powerful black diffused cat eye” to complement it.

For more on the 2022 Emmy Awards, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.

Simkin prepped her skin using an MVP in her kit, Lancer Skincare’s$1,000 Legacy Youth Treatment. For her makeup, every item Simkin applied cost $15 - or less - and made a lasting impression. The heros included the brand’s new vitamin C-infusedC-Bright Putty Primer ($7), the$3 Bite-Size Eyeshadowpalette Simkin used to create the cat eye (the pro prefers shadow to liner for a bold but not too harsh effect) and the TikTok viralHalo Glow Liquid Filter ($14)responsible for Rae’s gleam. Using both brands, Simkin says, “enabled me to enhance her glow to its fullest.”

Courtesy Joanna Simkin

Rae, 37, was nominated at this year’sEmmy Awardsfor lead actress in a comedy series for her role as Issa inInsecure. The show, which she also created, earned nominations for outstanding cinematography for a single-camera series (half-hour) and outstanding single-camera picture editing for a comedy series for its final batch of episodes. She’s also nominated forA Black Lady Sketch Show.

Since it premiered in October 2016,Insecurehas earned dozens of award nominations. The show has been nominated every year for at least one Emmy since 2018 and won one award in 2020 for outstanding single-camera picture editing for a comedy series.

Insecureaired its series finalein 2021, which Rae called a “journey of growth.”

Momodu Mansaray/Getty

“I mean, this is a journey of growth,” Rae toldEntertainment Tonightof her character’s evolution. “So, if Issa’s in the same place as she was in season 1, then we failed.”

Christopher Polk/NBC

Viewers get to see where Issa, Molly (Yvonne Orji), Tiffany (Amanda Seales), Kelli (Natasha Rothwell), Lawrence (Jay Ellis) and Nathan (Kendrick Sampson) all end up — but longtime fans of the series may not be happy with the end result.

“It’s not like these characters' lives are ending,” Penny told the outlet. “It’s just that the audience and the writers aren’t continuing with them on their journey. But they’re going to still go on and live lives, theoretically.”

That alone “really freed us up to not worry about the perfect ending,” Penny added.

Leon Bennett/Getty

Insecuremay have come to a close in 2021, but the actress and producer hasn’t slowed down her work at all. Rae, whomarried longtime love Louis Diamein July 2021, joined thecast of Greta Gerwig’sBarbie, expected to land in 2023.Barbie, which starsMargot Robbieas the ever-popular Mattel doll, will also featureRyan Goslingas Barbie’s dashing beau Ken, along withAmerica Ferrera,Simu Liu,Kate McKinnonandWill Ferrell.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The 74th PrimetimeEmmy Awardsare being broadcast live on NBC from the Microsoft Theater in ‎Los Angeles.

source: people.com