After years of planning, producing and marketing the award-winning films, what role does fashion play at the Oscars? We know it’s serious business for fashion brands looking for high impact marketing. For others, it’s light-hearted entertainment and an opportunity to trend-spot. For guests, it’s a chance to use fashion to make political or other commentaries. At Twyg, Andie Reeves looked closely at the details for clues about sustainability. She spotted a dress made from family-grown Amazonian fibres to brooches with political messages. Here’s what you might not have noticed amongst all the glitter.
Traditional craftsmanship
Several celebrities chose to eschew big fashion houses, using their moment on the red carpet to highlight smaller design houses that use traditional techniques instead. Journalist Zanna Roberts Rassi wore a beaded crop top, which took over 2,000 hours to make. It was designed by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla for Swadesh, an online platform dedicated to traditional Indian craftsmanship.
Brazilian actress Laura Lufési wore a purple-and-yellow patchwork design by the São Paulo-based label MISCI, which prioritises local production and locally sourced, organic, and recycled fabrics. The brand’s name and philosophy are derived from “miscigenação” – the mixing of races and ethnic backgrounds – a concept reflected in its signature patchwork pieces.
Zanna Roberts Rassi in Swadesh x Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla
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Laura Lufési in MISCI
Another Brazilian actress Alice Carvalho brought tradition and sustainability to the award ceremony. Her dress was made using two fibres, jute and Amazonian mallow, grown by families in the states surrounding the Amazon without agrochemicals or pesticides and irrigated by the region’s rivers and streams. The fibres were woven in Castanhal, and the dress was custom-made by Amazonian fashion label Normando.
Alice Carvalho in Normando.
Feathers
From Nicole Kidman and Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ delicately framed hems to Demi Moore’s full plumage and Teyana Taylor’s feathered train, feathers emerged as a trend of the night. Though undeniably beautiful, it’s worth noting the general lack of ethics in the feather and bird skin industry. Read Total Ethics Fashion’s report on how most feathers are farmed for fashion, which can include live plucking, partial toe amputation and squalid living conditions. Disclaimer: we don’t know how the feathers we see at the Oscars were sourced, but it’s important for us to highlight the concerns and for all of us to know the source of materials.
Nicole Kidman in Chanel
Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Dior
Demi Moore in custom Gucci
Teyana Taylor in Chanel
Amy Madigan’s Christian Dior Haute Couture jacket which appeared to be made of feathers was actually made of feather-like paillettes. We’re not sure (yet) what these are made of. Silk, perhaps?
Some of the feather-like adornments on the red carpet looked like they could be sequins, and we can’t be sure of their sustainability credentials. Generally if they are plastic, sequins are a no-no as they contain toxic chemicals, and pollute sea, sand and soil.
Some have referred to this year’s Oscars, as the Oscars of feathers? Why feathers? Marisa Meltzer of Vanity Fair wonders whether they’re a reference to hope, as in “Hope is the thing with feathers.” And what could be more needed in the world right now?
Amy Madigan in Dior
Brooches
Most of the men’s fashion at the Oscars was tame, with a single accessory saving multiple looks from tipping into ‘boring’ territory: the brooch. Amongst the classic sparkles and gold, a few stood out.
Javier Bardem wearing the same pin he wore in 2003 to protest the Iraq war at the Spanish Goya Awards
Javier Bardem wore two large pins: one in support of Palestine, and the other reading No a la Guerra (No to War). He originally wore the latter in 2003 as a stand against the war in Iraq. “And we are here, 23 years after, with another illegal war created by Trump and Netanyahu, with another lie,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Alice Carvalho wearing a pin by OPVS
Damson Idris wearing a brooch he designed for his luxury jewellery label DIDRIS
Alice Carvalho was accessorised with a gold brooch by OPVS, featuring an inverted map of Latin America, perhaps referencing Joaquín Torres-García’s América Invertida. This famous sketch challenges the traditional map hierarchy that places Europe and the Americas at the top and centre. The brooch is engraved with “Abya Yala”, an Indigenous term from the Guna people of present-day Panama and Colombia, which is used as an alternative name for the Americas.
Having launched DIDRIS, his luxury jewellery brand last year, Damson Idris (not related to Idris Elba) wore a brooch he designed himself. At its centre are five marquise diamonds, surrounded by 42 natural white diamonds. Every stone was sourced through De Beers and certified through the Kimberley Process, a certification scheme that aims to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the market.
Flowers
Arden Cho in Miss Sohee
Anne Hathaway in Valentino
Rose Byrne in Dior
Odessa A’zion in Valentino
Several dresses featured embroidered flowers. Adren Cho, star of KPop Demon Hunters, wore a dress by Miss Sohee, the South Korean couturier known for her intricate hand embroidery work. Pale and pastel flowers stitched onto black dresses were seen on Anne Hathaway, Rose Byrne and Odessa A’zion.
Pedro Pascal in Chanel
Mia Goth in Dior
Pedro Pascal’s Chanel outfit featured an oversized, cream flower pin, while Mia Goth’s dress seemed to be made up of pale chiffon flowers.
Quirky
Law Roach in archival Alexander McQueen
Ryan Coogler in Louis Vuitton with Zinzi Coogler
Fun, personal details were found dotted amongst the evening’s attendees. Iconic stylist Law Roach carried a 2004 Chanel minaudière – a small, rigid handbag – shaped like a bible to complement his archival Alexander McQueen look. Ryan Coogler, director of Sinners, had a blues guitar and a treble clef braided into his corn rows by Coogler’s go-to hairstylist, Tyzanna B.
Costume designer Malgosia Turzanska made her own dress from denim and safety pins
Malgosia Turzanska, who was nominated for her costume design work in Hamnet, made her own dress, naturally. She told Vogue, “I designed the dress to feel like when you open a new box of safety pins at the beginning of the project.” The dress was made with denim, then embellished with countless silver safety pins by her and her two best friends. While Malgosia works on big-budget films, her favourite work tool remains the humble safety pin as she used the Oscars as a chance to put this understated hero on a pedestal.
What did we miss? Email us on info@twyg.co.za with your favourite detail from the Oscars 2026 red-carpet.
- Generic images were sourced via Google
