Academy Museum Gala Best Dressed: Butterflies and Sculpted Blooms

Saturday night's Academy Museum Gala turned the Los Angeles carpet into a moving garden, and the 2026 edition's best dressed list was decided by who wore the boldest wings. The Academy Museum Gala best dressed looks came from Elle Fanning, who arrived in a custom Valentino gown with a butterfly for a bodice, Janelle Monáe, whose cobalt Robert Wun gown sprouted shimmering wings at the décolletage, and Greta Lee, whose beaded blue Dior dress carried a giant pom-pom bloom at the hip. The gala, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' annual fundraiser, drew its usual mix of film stars and fashion houses, but this year's outfits behaved more like sculpture than clothing.

The butterfly trend was the night's boldest. Fanning's custom Valentino paired a pastel bodice shaped like a winged insect with a multicolored skirt, according to the Zoe Report's rundown of the evening's celebrity looks. Monáe took the same idea to the extreme in her cobalt Robert Wun gown, where oversized shimmering wings extended from the neckline. Amandla Stenberg completed the trio in a plunging Zimmermann dress covered in lifelike butterflies, turning her gown into a moving piece of entomology.

Flowers ran a close second, and they were anything but printed. Teyana Taylor paired a cotton-candy-blue breastplate with a sheer skirt scattered with delicate appliqués, as reported by Bustle's red-carpet coverage. Lee's fully beaded blue Dior gown swayed as she moved, the white pom-pom flower perched at her hip giving the whole look its punch. Sofia Vergara lined an asymmetrical neckline with lifelike purple blooms stacked upward like a small garden, reinforcing the night's fixation on texture and volume.

Peplums returned, rebuilt as architecture

The night's other big silhouette was the peplum, rebuilt at architectural scale. Chase Infiniti wore a black-and-white Louis Vuitton gown whose exaggerated pleated peplum sculpted the torso, according to Woman Magazine's red-carpet highlights. Sophie Thatcher layered Art-Deco-inspired flares into a tiered gold effect, while Anna Kendrick pushed the shape furthest in a plunging Georges Chakra gown, fabric jutting at each hip into a strikingly elongated silhouette. None of it resembled the office peplums of a decade ago; these were load-bearing ruffles.

Not everyone chased the spectacle. Hailey Bieber and Bader both wore classic column gowns, in Chanel and Giorgio Armani respectively, a reminder that a single unadorned shade can anchor a carpet full of noise. Gemma Chan kept the same discipline in a sleek Prada cutout gown with a train, and Zoey Deutch wore a floor-length Prada column with long sleeves. Kim Kardashian chose an ivory strapless dress from the Balenciaga archives, Kendall Jenner walked in Valentino, Lili Reinhart wore Giorgio Armani, and Odessa A'zion chose archival Giorgio Armani.

What the carpet says about the season

The Academy Museum Gala best dressed list matters because the guest list mixes studio-era legends with runway regulars, and designers treat the night as a fitting room for the season ahead. Saturday's arrivals leaned into texture over print, with beads, appliqués, and feathering doing the talking instead of patterns. Charlize Theron wore Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann, A$AP Rocky wore Chanel, and Jacob Elordi wore Bottega Veneta, according to W Magazine's look-by-look rundown. Emma Chamberlain showed off a deep red Giorgio Armani halter gown styled by Jared Ellner, while Taylor Swift chose Dior and Colman Domingo wore Valentino with Boucheron jewelry.

Valentino dressed a small army of its own. The house was behind Fanning's butterfly bodice, Kendall Jenner's look, Cailee Spaeny's punchy pink gown with its dramatic train, and Colman Domingo's suit. Dior outfitted Greta Lee and Taylor Swift, while Chanel dressed Hailey Bieber, Alexa Demie in a pale blue feathery custom gown, and A$AP Rocky. The evening read as a scorecard for which houses own the red carpet right now. Inde Navarrette brought Schiaparelli couture, one of the night's few true couture looks, according to W Magazine.

Naomi Ackie gave the night its boldest color in a voluminous violet Balenciaga gown with Boucheron jewels, proof that even in a garden of butterflies, volume still wins the long shot. If Saturday's carpet is any guide, the coming season's red carpets will be measured in wings and petals, not hemlines.

Sources for the looks above include Bustle's best-dressed rundown and Woman Magazine's trend highlights.