What celebrities wore to the 2026 Emmys red carpet
By Jacqui Palumbo, Oscar Holland | Photographs and Video by Grace Widyatmadja, Jennelle Fong
(CNN) — Awards season kicked off on Monday as the stars of television descended on LA’s Peacock Theater for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. Fashion-watchers looking for hints on which trends will dominate between now and the Oscars next March will still have some guesswork to do. But there were plenty of standout looks, as celebrity stylists got back to business ahead of a packed schedule of high-profile red carpets.
This was not a night of sartorial risk-taking — aside, of course, from “Hacks” star Megan Stalter, who arrived as an actual Emmy statuette. Selena Gomez’s glittering chainmail Louis Vuitton gown presented a somewhat more refined use of golden metallics. But on the blue carpet, quietly bold forms were often expressed in otherwise demure shades. Odessa A’zion’s fringed skirt suit and Keri Russell’s floor-length leather Khaite gown for instance, proved that dressing in all-black need not be boring.
Elsewhere, we were reminded of the many ways a dress can be one-shouldered — from the thick, bunched taffeta strap holding up “Shrinking” actor Lukita Maxwell’s voluminous champagne Louis Vuitton dress, to the optical illusion of Quinta Brunson’s Christian Cowan gown, which looked like it was slipping off in real-time (everything was, in fact, held in place by nude tulle). Kristen Bell’s delicate Alberta Ferretti cape and Cynthia Nixon’s sculptural Issey Miyake creation were also — if not strictly one-shouldered — intriguing takes on asymmetry.
No single color or palette dominated. For every bright red gown (see: Mariska Hargitay, Niecy Nash and, perhaps most elegantly, Rhea Seehorn) there was a pale, ethereal one. Florence Pugh, wearing custom Vivienne Westwood, was among several stars to arrive in breezy shades of lilac. The enduring two-tone black-and-white trend was, meanwhile, exemplified by Dakota Fanning and “White Lotus” star Beatrice Grannò, in Carolina Herrera and Vivienne Westwood, respectively.
The evening’s men had fun, too. Embroidered suits have become increasingly commonplace on the red carpet, with Jeff Hiller and Alan Cumming both pulling them off with aplomb. Oscar Isaac (in Celine) and Noah Wyle (in Brunello Cucinelli) reinterpreted black-tie formality in light colors, while Stalter’s “Hacks” co-star Carl Clemons-Hopkins deconstructed the tuxedo entirely with a cropped jacket and train that draped behind him.
Scroll down to see this year’s best and boldest looks.
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