The 96th annual Academy Awards were held on Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre in California. The event came at the tail-end of a season that embraced a return to red carpet dressing — and an actual red carpet, replacing last year’s Champagne carpet.
Many of fashion’s favorite celebrities were there, including Zendaya, who wore a silver and pink metallic Armani Privé gown, and Margot Robbie, who cast aside the Barbie-themed dresses for a jet-black chainmail Atelier Versace gown. Robbie’s “Barbie” co-star America Ferrera gave pink one last hurrah, however, in a rose chainmail gown, also from Atelier Versace.
Apart from Robbie’s unexpected choice, there weren’t a lot of fashion surprises, but that’s not what the Oscars are about. Instead, the evening reinforced a vision of the styles that will continue into summer’s prom and wedding season, and showed a few major looks from the fall-winter 2024 shows that might hit the mainstream later in the year. Pastels, for example, will be a major color trend.
Here are some of the biggest fashion industry trends from the Oscars.
Go big
Statement sleeves, peplums and other structural embellishments added interest to monochrome pieces. Actor Da'vine Joy Randolph’s light blue custom Louis Vuitton cold shoulder gown featured voluminous ruffled sleeves, and musician Ariana Grande’s Barbie-pink custom Giambattista Valli Haute Couture gown sported pouf sleeves that almost masqueraded as a peplum. Peplums were seen on actor Emma Stone’s mint custom Louis Vuitton gown and actor Lupito Nyong'o’s pale blue custom Armani Privé gown. Shoulder details also had a big moment on gowns worn by actor Sandra Hüller in black custom Schiaparelli and actor Cynthia Erivo in dark green custom Louis Vuitton.
Blue streak
From pastel to navy, there were shades of blue on gowns and suiting, adding interest to what was once a sea of black. In addition to Randolph and Nyong'o, light blue showed up on actor Taylor Zakhar Perez, who wore a Prada tuxedo; actor Hailee Steinfeld, who wore a gold-flecked Elie Saab spring-summer 2024 couture gown; and filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who wore custom Louis Vuitton. Actor Lily Gladstone wore a midnight blue velvet gown made by Gucci in collaboration with Joe Big Mountain, and Jodie Foster wore a dark blue Loewe gown. Actor Sterling K. Brown wore a dark navy Dior Men tuxedo, and Teo Yoo and Al Pacino also wore deep blue tuxedos.
Seeing red
Red held onto its spot as a go-to color for carpets and event dressing. Celebrity Eugene Lee Yang of YouTube's Try Guys wore a scarlet ballgown skirt and cropped jacket, model Haley Kalil wore a sweeping red strapless gown, and Melissa McCarthy wore a red long-sleeved gown with hot pink statement sleeves. Actors Grace Gummer, in Gucci, and Xochitl Gomez both wore wine-red gowns, while actor Quannah Chasinghorse wore a red patterned dress with feather details, and actor Regina King wore an orange-red custom Atelier Versace gown.
Opposites attract
Black and white pieces showed that simple shades with clever styling still make bold statements. Traditional tuxedos looked modern on actors Colman Domingo and Bradley Cooper, who both wore flared black double-breasted looks by Louis Vuitton. Actors John Krasinski and Shameik Moore both wore all-white tuxedos, and Dwyane Wade wore a white tuxedo jacket with black lapels. Black-and-white gowns were worn by Greta Lee in Loewe, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in Zuhair Murad and Carey Mulligan in Balenciaga. Billie Eilish wore a black-and-white Chanel skirt suit on the red carpet, and a similarly hued Thom Browne skirt suit to perform. All-black gowns were seen on Rita Moreno, in Badgley Mischka, and Eva Longoria, in Tamara Ralph, while writer Molly McNearney and actor Kirsten Dunst, who wore Gucci, both wore white gowns.
Heavy metal
Gold, Champagne, silver and sequins made eveningwear sparkle. Anya Taylor-Joy wore a Christian Dior Haute Couture silver scalloped gown, while Ryan Gosling’s black custom Gucci suit glittered with sequined trim. Shine got sculptural on Emily Blunt, who wore a Champagne-colored Schiaparelli spring-summer 2024 gown, and on Gabrielle Union-Wade, who wore a silver two-piece Carolina Herrera pre-fall 2024 outfit. Metallic also showed up on Florence Pugh in a silver Del Core spring-summer 2024 gown, Michelle Yeoh in a one-shouldered silver ombré sequined custom Balenciaga Couture gown, and actor Laverne Cox, who wore a vintage fall-winter 1986 Mugler gold bustier dress.
