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Every Hollywood starlet wants to look like a million bucks at the Oscars. Now some are demanding red-carpet paycheques to match.

An increasing number of fashion designers are reportedly paying actresses to wear their dresses to big events like this Sunday's Academy Awards.

Of the fancy gowns you'll see at the Oscars, “75 per cent of it is business, head to toe. Even the people who do the hair are bought out by hair companies,” says Kelly Cutrone, a fashion publicist and one of the few industry insiders who will talk openly about red-carpet payola. “People do deals for sure, and [designers] pay.”

Putting a price on awards-show glamour comes naturally to the marketing-saturated entertainment world. Filmmakers sell product placements for everything from laptops to soft drinks in their movies, so why shouldn't actresses cash in on their own prime retail space – their bodies?

“They get to wear the most gorgeous dresses and rumour is they get paid for it,” Chum Television's Fashion Television host Jeanne Beker says. “Who wouldn't want to do it?”

A one-shot gown deal might pay an actress a few hundred thousand dollars, Ms. Cutrone says, while a designer could shell out more than $1-million (U.S.) for a year-long red-carpet contract.

Susan Ashbrook, whose Los Angeles firm pairs up-and-coming designers with celebrities, says no one in Hollywood questions the cash-for-couture system. Her clients simply can't afford to compete with the big fashion houses at the Academy Awards.

“I tell them, the Oscars are like the Super Bowl. There are other football games throughout the whole year, and those are the ones we'll play in. That's my strategy,” she says.

Ms. Ashbrook doesn't think getting paid to wear gowns is as widespread as Ms. Cutrone believes, but she says the trend is growing. “It's just like Tiger Woods has a deal with Nike.”

These deals may be an open secret in Hollywood, but fashion houses aren't 'fessing up. Chanel Canada spokeswoman Anny Kazanjian says her company works with several actresses before the Oscars, but no contracts are involved. “No. We do not pay celebrities to be dressed in Chanel,” she says. Other designers have issued similar denials in the past.

Meanwhile, actresses may chat happily about their rehab and their plastic surgeries, but no one talks about getting paid to wear dresses. Why the reticence?

The better to preserve the fantasy image of Hollywood glamour. Designers want the public to believe celebrities truly love their gowns. And stars want you to think they just naturally have exquisite taste. Knowing the price tag might cheapen the fantasy.

“The image being presented would perhaps lose some of its lustre,” says Ken Wong, a marketing professor at Queen's University School of Business. “The fear would be that if people knew, it would leave them open to ridicule — like, that dress is so ugly you had to pay someone to wear it. Or, for the celebrity, people might think, ‘Boy, you've got to be pretty desperate.'”

Ms. Cutrone, whose People's Revolution PR firm oversaw 15 New York fashion shows this year, declined to name names. But rumours of red carpet payola abound. At the 2005 Golden Globes, jeweller Chopard reportedly paid Charlize Theron and Hilary Swank six figures to don Chopard baubles.

After she won best actress, Ms. Swank told reporters, “I'm so glad that I wore Chopard earrings. They brought me good luck.”

Chopard spokeswoman Stephanie Labeille did not return calls from The Globe and Mail. But she earlier told the Los Angeles Times that everyone pays to play on the red carpet.

“Saying one brand pays stars, when they all pay stars, is ridiculous,” Ms. Labeille said.

Ms. Cutrone says she has seen celebrities sign detailed contracts for payments from clothing designers. Stars are no longer content with getting expensive couture gowns for free.

“It's a natural evolution,” Ms. Cutrone says. “First, they say: ‘Ooh, can I borrow it?' Then it's: ‘Can I keep it?' Then it's: ‘What else are you going to give me?' And then it's: ‘What are you going to pay me?'.”

Designers lust after hot stars for good reason. One stellar red-carpet photo — circulated around the world — can stick in consumers' minds forever. And while the average Jane can't run out and buy a couture gown, she may be influenced to buy Chanel sunglasses or Dior lipstick.

“Does the average consumer pay attention? The answer is yes,” says Alan Middleton, marketing professor at York University's Schulich School of Business.

Still, why would millionaire Hollywood actresses deign to don a dress for a few measly hundred thousand dollars? Perhaps because they realize fame is fickle and the clock is ticking. Fancy designers won't be clamouring for their attention forever.

“Their earning capacity severely decreases after the age of 35, so they want to make money while they can,” Ms. Cutrone says.

As Ms. Beker puts it, “Make hay while the sun shines, honey.”