Not even a week into the new year, and the 2026 awards season is officially underway. (No rest for the cast of Wicked.) Your feeds have no doubt alerted you to the fact that the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards took place last night, with seemingly every big name from 2025 packing into an auditorium to vie for top honors.
Well, kinda. Accomplished as it may sound, the show, which took over the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on Sunday, is considered more of a precursor to the fervent awards schedule than its actual kickoff by much of Hollywood’s culturati, less of a career-making prize for serious contenders than a practice round for on-stage jitters and a vibe check for where the culture is at with the nonstop Marty Supreme press. (They’re onboard the blimp — Chalamet took home the “Best Actor” award.)
Acting? Timothée Chalamet Is Method Dressing Now.
As part of the rollout for the forthcoming A24 flick “Marty Supreme,” the actor is taking the freaky ‘fits to the next levelNaturally, this did not stop much of this year’s best and brightest in film and television — casts from Frankenstein, One Battle After Another and of course Marty Supreme — from showing out for the festivities. The red carpet was positively star-studded, the names you’d expect, like Michael B. Jordan and Alexander Skarsgård, bumping elbows (and delightful bow cuffs) dressed in the names you’d expect, like Louis Vuitton and Valentino.
Low stakes or not, massive menswear moments were abundant, and, unlike the Critics Choice Awards’ semi-dubious prognosticative powers when it comes to Oscar winners, the larger-than-life ‘fits might just be indicative of how the usual red carpet suspects are planning on dressing for Hollywood’s biggest night.
Case in point: the continuation of the black-on-black resurgence was particularly noticeable, championed by none other than the internet’s favorite mullet-rocking heartthrobs. Leading the charge, Paul Mescal’s lapel-forward Gucci number was simultaneously one of the most subdued and slutty looks of the night, mostly on the merit of what was under the blazer. (Spoiler alert: the tiniest of V-neck tees.)
Similarly, Frankenstein actor Jacob Elordi pairing an immaculately tailored custom Bottega Veneta double-breasted suit with bad-boy shades is nothing new at this point, but both the form — a strong shoulder and slinkier cut than the downright slouchy joints he’s been wearing recently — and the midnight palette feel both revelatory and potentially predictive.
Florals, a longtime sartorial indiscretion, seem to also be having a moment. The aforementioned “Best Actor” winner Timothée Chalamet was spotted not in a charmingly irreverent floral tie, paired with a ’80s-esque navy pinstripe suit (custom Givenchy) which looked fantastic on him and is sure to set the brains of stylists everywhere alight with potential disastrous ideas for less charismatic dressers, while Ethan Hawke in frumpy, botanically-embroidered Bode also seems to indicate that florals might just be the big-swing suiting move for 2026.
There’s little telling what the more prestigious awards shows will bring, but, if this year’s inaugural red carpet was any indication, it’s going to be bold. And quite possibly delivered in some shade of orange.
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