The Oscars red carpet is all about big arrivals and small moments — the cast reunions, the last-minute gown readjustments, the slow shuffle toward the entranceway of Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre. In fact, what happens outside the venue often lives longer in our collective memory than the awards themselves.
These are the outfits that will live on best-dressed (or worst-dressed) lists for decades to come, and the celebrity interactions that will be clipped, memed and shared ad infinitum. This year, CNN has asked the celebrated photographer Jennelle Fong to capture them all: The looks you can’t miss and the tiny flourishes you almost certainly would have.
What happens on Hollywood’s starriest night will speak to some of the burning questions of our age: Will Timothée Chalamet wear a shirt? Will anyone be brave enough to don a “naked” dress at the season’s most formal awards show? Yet there is also a timelessness to the occasion. Since its first edition in 1929, the Oscars has both reflected and shaped pop culture — a place where filmmaking and fashion converge. These Academy Awards will be no different.
This photo essay will be updated throughout Sunday evening.
