Oscar campaigns are not won, they are endured. There are parties, festivals, For Your Consideration screenings, press junkets and talk show appearances. The night before the Academy Awards, I found myself — not an important person in the industry by any means — at two separate parties. Imagine if you’re a nominee, getting shuttled to and fro, shaking hands and making small talk. At the first event, I caught a glimpse of the legendary actor Minnie Driver, who was nominated for supporting actress for the film “Good Will Hunting” in 1998. She posed, smiled and looked as glamorous as ever. And, with an extreme amount of grace, she disappeared through a door in the back. Poof. Gone.

And like magic, she reappeared on the carpet right in front of me, at Chanel’s legendary pre-Oscar dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She dazzled in a sparkling gown, a totally different outfit than the one I’d seen just an hour prior. After years of being in L.A., I’m not particularly starstruck anymore, but at this moment, I was something close to it. How does one glide through the chaos and the camera flashes of Oscar season with poise and perfection? And how do they keep a level head through it all?

It takes a strong will to be a star — to endure the setbacks and the struggles of making it in Hollywood. To stay on top, it takes even more. It takes a team. And one of the biggest members of any celebrity’s team is their stylist. The people who dream up the looks that sparkle at high-profile events, and who make sure that even if you don’t feel perfect, you at least look it.

Stylists are the consigliere, the therapist and the trusted right hand of any Oscar nominee. Without the stylist, Oscars season would look completely different, and probably a bit worse. How do they keep their clients from cracking under the pressure? “It’s just asking simple questions, like, ‘how are you doing today?’” I’m told by the buzzy celebrity stylist known as Turner. She’s the coolest celebrity’s go-to for fashion counsel, working with Natasha Lyonne and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. She says that a huge part of her job is “knowing that everything that is shared in that fitting room stays in that fitting room.” Because once you’re out of the fitting room and into an event like the Chanel dinner, the eyes and ears of the world are on you.

This year marked the 17th occasion of Chanel hosting its Oscar party, an event that insiders see as the last stop on the calendar before the big night at the Dolby Theatre. It’s co-hosted by British multihyphenate producer and entrepreneur Charles Finch, who presides over the affair with the charm and graciousness that typifies the best hosts. The Chanel dinner brings fashion, film and art together in an invigorating way. It’s both one of the most exclusive, sought-after invites in town and a jam-packed, raucous bash. Trying to make my way through the throng of movie stars, filmmakers and other luminaries was almost like an Olympic event. If they were handing out medals for not tripping over Mick Jagger, I should probably win gold.

Mick Jagger at the Chanel and Charles Finch annual pre-Oscar dinner at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills.

(Virgile Guinard / CHANEL)

Awards season itself is its own kind of gantlet. Millions and millions of dollars are poured into the sprawling motion picture economy of Los Angeles to drum up support for the year’s Academy Award nominees. Much of the economic health of the entertainment industry trades — Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, etc. — rely on the avalanche of ad spending and free content that comes from Oscar campaigning. The season just seems to get longer every year, creeping into the spring and summer months, with awards heavyweights like “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” dropping mere months after the last Oscar ceremony. And as artificial intelligence and studio consolidation rock the business, the Oscars are an even more important barometer of the health of the movies themselves.

The demands placed on nominees, especially actors, are heavy. To be out in public, exposed and on display, in a fight for your professional life, you don’t just have to be charming, clever and witty in front of journalists and voters. You also have to look good for the gaggle of photographers that document your every move at events like the BAFTA Tea Party or the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards. Celebrities have to be prepared for the marathon at all times.

Lily-Rose Depp and Gracie Abrams at the Chanel and Charles Finch annual pre-Oscar dinner at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills. (Jon Kopaloff/WireImage)

From left, Gracie Abrams, Lily-Rose Depp and Sarah Pidgeon at the Chanel and Charles Finch annual pre-Oscar dinner at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills.

(Virgile Guinard / CHANEL)

The conversation between stars and stylists begins early, often with collaborative meetings and moodboarding. Spencer Singer styles Chanel devotees Lily-Rose Depp (in a sleeveless vest embellished with pearls and rhinestones) and Gracie Abrams (wearing a beautiful black tweed dress). His process is extremely detailed and centered around the goals of the client. “With a particular project, you tend to go more thematic, or it’s just maybe the place that we’re both in in our lives of loving a particular aesthetic,” he says. “The most fun part is throwing everything against the wall and then pulling out the things that feel strongest.”

Teyana Taylor rocking a thrilling, multicolored shearling coat from the most recent Fall/Winter 2026 Chanel ready-to-wear collection.

(Jon Kopaloff/WireImage)

Sometimes, the client knows exactly what they want and makes the call on the spot. “I’m always plotting,” Teyana Taylor, supporting actress nominee for “One Battle After Another,” told me on the Chanel carpet. Taylor was rocking a thrilling, multicolored shearling coat — look 57 from the most recent Fall/Winter 2026 Chanel ready-to-wear collection. Taylor wore the coat fully buttoned up, ready to throw it off for a dramatic reveal later in the evening. She first saw the coat on the runway and knew immediately that she needed it. “I wasn’t even backstage before I was like, ‘The coat. I gotta get the coat.’ I knew that tonight would be the perfect night for it.”

“I really love this party, because it’s easy to see people that you admire and that you would love to work with,” says Sigourney Weaver of the Chanel pre-Oscar dinner.

(Jon Kopaloff/WireImage)

Advertisement

Sigourney Weaver has been nominated for an Academy Award three times and is one of the most accomplished veterans of the Oscar circuit. “It’s not a grind for me,” she said in a buttery yellow-and-black Chanel coat from Spring/Summer 2026. Weaver relishes the chance to dress up and embrace the glamour of the season. “I’m very informal in real life. I really love this party, because it’s easy to see people that you admire and that you would love to work with. The Oscars themselves are too formal, in a way, unless you’re backstage together.”

Weaver and Taylor both make it seem effortless, but sometimes, it’s not quite that easy. Alexandra Mandelkorn has styled dozens of A-list names (Janelle Monáe, Rachel Brosnahan and Laura Dern among others), helping them get through event after event looking their best. For Mandelkorn, styling is as much about storytelling as it is natural impulse. When starting a project, she asks, “Are we leaning into the character [they play in the film]? Is she an ingenue? Are we trying to have a resurgence or some sort of different look for her, and give her a new identity within fashion and the industry?” Once that’s laid out and the goals are clear, the story can be told. Clothes, like film, are a medium for creativity.

Stylists also have to get creative when things go wrong — and to make sure the cameras don’t capture a bad moment for eternity. “There’s so many things that can happen between the fitting and when you get to the carpet,” Turner says of the many perils of awards season. “Your dress can wrinkle in the car. Your strapless bra can drop four inches while you’re sitting in the car, and then you forget to, like, pull it up once you get to the red carpet. Did your strapless gown also fall when it was in the car, and you forgot to pull it up? And then you get to the carpet, and you look at the photos after, and you’re like, ‘oh, God, OK, noted for next time.’”

Mandelkorn tells the story of a perilous time where a strap popped off Monáe’s shoe. “She wouldn’t be able to walk with that,” she says. “It had to somehow be reattached. We ended up jerry-rigging it using safety pins. Thankfully, you didn’t see the shoe as she was walking.” Zippers can break, buttons can pop off, but stylists have to stay strong for their clients. “I keep upholstery thread in my kit because it’s so strong,” Mandelkorn said. “Generally when a zipper pops, it’s because it’s really tight. The girls love to be in a tight dress, so some of these zippers, they just give way. We make it work, and [fans] never know. You’d never know.”

The risks can be significant, and the rewards might not always come. Five people out of thousands of acting performances in a year can be nominated for an award, but only one wins. The uncomfortable shoes, flashbulbs and endless rides in rented cars could wear anyone down, but underneath all of the work, there must still be joy. Teyana Taylor said it simply: “I get excited because I love to wear clothes. I love clothes, I love fashion. I appreciate the art of it. I appreciate the fabric. I appreciate every garment.”

Nicole Kidman, left, and Teyana Taylor at the Chanel dinner. The spirit and beauty of the movies is alive and well.

(Virgile Guinard / CHANEL)

The attendees of this latest Chanel party were channeling all the joy they could muster before sitting for dinner. Even in a time that feels bleak, the spirit and beauty of the movies is alive and well. As I said my goodbyes and wandered back out into the lush darkness of the Beverly Hills Hotel, I thought about the end of another awards season coming to a close. Hollywood continues to undergo a transition that is shaking the foundation of the entire industry, the most important thing we can all do right now is just that. Appreciate the art of it.