Award season is in full swing, and on Sunday stars descended on Los Angeles’s Crypto.com Arena for the 2026 Grammy Awards, celebrating the year’s best in music.
While awards ceremonies are usually a playground for excess, this year’s red carpet struck a noticeably restrained note. Colour was largely absent, with many attendees opting for head-to-toe black, while silhouettes skewed sleek and fitted rather than grand and theatrical. The mood was somber too, with several guests wearing “ICE Out” pins in protest against the policies of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Best dressed
Sabrina Carpenter was a notable outlier to the evening’s all-black dress code. The Manchild singer chose a custom ivory, fully beaded gown by Valentino – delicate, luminous and a reminder of why she is fast becoming a fashion darling.
She wasn’t alone in bucking the trend: Dubai-based Lebanese influencer and eyewear designer Karen Wazen arrived in a shimmering gold look by Lebanon's Nicolas Jebran.
Never one to underplay the moment, Lady Gaga leaned fully into the drama in a high-gothic, high-neck black gown with a sweeping train, covered in black cockerel feathers. Cut to twist around the body, the custom design came from audacious Canadian label Matieres Fecales. She later took home Best Pop Vocal Album for Mayhem.
Elsewhere, classic tailoring prevailed. British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean, who won Best New Artist, wore a two-tone Chanel gown – sequinned black bodice, voluminous white skirt – finished with Cartier jewellery.
Kendrick Lamar opted for a crisp Chanel tuxedo, also paired with Cartier, while Bad Bunny, nominated for four awards for Debi Tirar Mas Fotos, looked sharp in a black Schiaparelli suit, distinguished by lace detailing at the lapel.
Ejae, the Korean American singer-songwriter best known for voicing Roomie in K-Pop Demon Hunters, sidestepped black in favour of midnight blue, wearing a Dior gown with a deep side slit and lace paneling beneath.
Pharrell Williams – who besides being a multiple Grammy winner himself, is also Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director – dressed himself in a dusty pink, double-breasted velvet suit and extended the look to his Clipse bandmates Pusha T and Malice, who arrived in matching ensembles.
Rose of Blackpink chose Giambattista Valli, wearing a black velvet mini dress topped with a cream taffeta overskirt, perfectly offsetting her tightly curled hair. The appearance was a welcome moment for the house, which recently cancelled its haute couture show in Paris, casting uncertainty over its future.
Twenty-year-old American singer Sombr may have arrived as a Best New Artist nominee, but he left firmly on the fashion map. He first appeared in a shimmering custom Valentino silver suit with a lace shirt, before changing into a shirtless mirrored suit for his performance – finishing the night as a bona fide style breakout.
Justin and Hailey Bieber opted for coordinated black, wearing Balenciaga and Alaia respectively. Bieber, who was nominated in multiple categories, went back to basics for his performance - appearing on stage in nothing but boxer shorts and socks.
