Academy Museum Gala 2026 Best Dressed: Kate Hudson, A$AP Rocky & More

Hollywood’s biggest fashion moment outside awards season returns tonight, as the Academy Museum Gala brings the industry’s biggest names to Los Angeles. Now in its sixth year, the event was launched in 2021 to celebrate the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. It raises funds for the museum’s exhibitions, educational initiatives and public programs, but it has quickly grown into something else: a major date on the fashion calendar, where Hollywood, luxury fashion and the business of celebrity dressing meet. A big business in fact.

The timing is part of its appeal. Coming just weeks after the Spring 2027 collections made their way from New York to London, Milan and Paris, the gala gives designers another opportunity to bring their latest runway looks to life on some of the world’s most photographed people. Last year, Ayo Edebiri wore Chanel, Monica Barbaro chose Dior, and Elle Fanning appeared in Balenciaga, offering a glimpse of how quickly runway fashion can move from the catwalk to the red carpet.

But this is about more than beautiful clothes and famous faces. At a time when luxury brands are fighting for attention amid market pressures, design predictability and growing fatigue, the red carpet has become an increasingly important part of the business. Every appearance can put a collection in front of millions, reinforce a brand’s image and give a fashion house an advantage in an extremely competitive environment. Celebrity dressing is no longer a sideshow to the industry. It is part of its machinery, and one of the few places where fashion can still command a global audience in a single night.

The red carpet needs its moments of provocation, however, the look that shocks, delights or makes people wonder what on earth a star and or the stylist was thinking. Isn’t that why the audience tunes into the red carpet to begin with? If every appearance is calculated for maximum optimization, fashion risks losing the unpredictability that makes it exciting – and the audience gets bored. Not everything has to be safe or approved by a committee. The business may drive the spectacle, but there should always be room for a little fun and the occasional walk on the wild side. Isn’t that what makes it Fashion?

See below for the winners of the night regardless of their Media Impact Value.