Fashion

Critics' Choice Awards best dressed 2026: Elle Fanning, Ariana Grande, Jacob Elordi

As the Critics’ Choice Awards kick off awards season 2026, we comb through the first real red carpet of the year for the best looks

Maddy Mussen5 January 2026

Critics' Choice Awards best dressed 2026: Elle Fanning, Ariana Grande, Jacob ElordiAs the Critics’ Choice Awards kick off awards season 2026, we comb through the first real red carpet of the year for the best looks

Allow Exco Player content

This content is provided by Exco Player and may use cookies or similar technologies. Please click 'Allow and Continue' below to load the content.

They say exercise, hydration and exposure to sunlight are key to surviving the winter months — I say it’s a heavy dose of glamour. We can thank awards season for fulfilling this need each year, with the first few red carpets of 2026 providing some much-needed razzle-dazzle among the doom and gloom of January.

Last night, the Critics’ Choice Awards saw the great and good of Hollywood descend upon the Barker Hangar for the 2026 ceremony, celebrating achievements in film and TV from across the past year.

And it did exactly what an awards ceremony should do: there were professions of love in acceptance speeches (Jessie Buckley said she could “drink” Paul Mescal like water, while Timothée Chalamet thanked his girlfriend Kylie Jenner), there was piss-taking of the highest degree (Meg Stalter and Paul W. Downs dressed in all orange, mocking Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner’s Marty Supreme moment) and there was some good, old fashioned finery.

Paul W. Downs and Meg Stalter reference Timothée and Kylie’s recent all-orange lookAFP via Getty Images

Highlights included Elle Fanning in a plunging, archival Ralph Lauren chainmail dress and Ariana Grande in a pink gown with a sheer, polka-dot overlay by Alberta Ferretti, which appears to be a nod to Diahann Carroll's 1969 Oscars look.

The male contingent was pleasingly inventive in their suiting, with Ethan Hawke rocking an embellished black and white look, while Michael B. Jordan diverted from the standard black tux by wearing a burgundy double-breasted suit by Louis Vuitton. However, Trammel Tillman and Jacob Elordi proved that sometimes monochrome really is king, with the actors’ respective all-white and all-black suits making for a very chic red carpet moment.

Ariana Grande in Alberta FerrettiGetty Images for Critics Choice

Younger attendees proved the kids are, in fact, all right (sartorially at least), with Chase Infiniti, Bella Ramsey and Owen Cooper handling the red carpet pressure with ease. Infiniti wore a butter yellow draped two-piece by Louis Vuitton, comprised of a column skirt and a layered, cropped cape, while Ramsey had their Harry Styles moment in a bedazzled black Prada jumpsuit, paired with a crimson shirt. Cooper was crisp and stylish in a white shirt and leather jacket with oversized trousers, all Bottega Veneta.

For these looks and more, check out the best dressed below.