The best fashion from the Oscars red carpet

Judging by the arrivals at the 95th Academy Awards in Hollywood, the days of playing it safe on the red carpet are over — and so is the red carpet. Embracing the maximalist themes sweeping through haute couture houses, the stars brought vibrant colors, rich embellishments and touches of fantasy to a catwalk now covered in a matte beige carpet called “Champagne.” (This could be the start of a sarcastic hashtag called #OscarsSoBeige.)

Nevertheless, some nominees continued to channel the themes and characters of their most recent films, transforming their formal attire into a glamorous addition to their film wardrobe. Throughout awards season and even now, the attire of the nominees for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” touches on a bit of surrealism, while Austin Butler of “Elvis” channels 1950s rock and roll. Conductor Lydia Tár is easy to imagine in one of Cate Blanchett’s perfectly tuned ensembles. Others cleverly use the Oscar carpet as just another kind of stage to audition for new characters, like the sexy vixen, the sophisticated, or the gender-glamor.

The Oscars red carpet is the culmination of a months-long image campaign that is about the actors’ fashion sense as well as the nominated films.

Today, award shows help movie stars use their fashion skills to secure their place at the pinnacle of acting. It’s no longer taken for granted that movies (and their empty theaters) enjoy more prestige than TV shows, but when their stars can convincingly wear couture or set fashion trends, the image dividends flow, especially for the actors. So it’s not surprising that they land lucrative advertising jobs or even run a prestigious fashion house like Pharrell Williams, who was recently appointed men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton.

The high stakes make the arrival of the Oscars exciting again. The stars save the best of their many high fashion ensembles for the occasion.

Here are the highlights of the Oscar champagne carpet:

Ashley Graham

fan binging

Laverne Cox

Erin Lime

Vanessa Hudgens

Zuri hall

Naz Perez