See Inside the Academy Museum's 3rd Annual Gala—Meryl! Oprah! Selena!

Of all the welcome parties one might have imagined for the third annual Academy Museum Gala, a flamboyance of plastic pink flamingoes was not likely on anyone’s bingo card. But there they were earlier this evening—an homage to John Waters’ iconic and subversive 1972 film—flanking a matching cherry blossom-hued carpet and joined by dozens of waiters standing sentry. All had been made ready to escort an armada of Hollywood players into the Renzo Piano-designed Academy Museum for what has, in only a few years, become one of the film industry’s most significant gatherings, second only to the Academy Awards themselves.

The early December date gave the gala, normally held in October (and which last night raised more than $10 million), a post-strike, early awards season jolt. There was frisson around contenders like Anatomy of a Fall’s Sandra Hüller, Past Lives’ Greta Lee, Killers of the Flower Moon costars Lily Gladstone and Leonardo Dicaprio, and the May December trifecta of Natalie Portman, Charles Melton, and Julianne Moore (who was celebrating her birthday tonight in emerald green, her best color). It wasn’t only the actors who may have had Oscars in mind as they entered this temple to Hollywood history: Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish are likely nominees for their work on the Barbie soundtrack alongside Mark Ronson, who was attending this evening primarily as the son-in-law of honoree Meryl Streep.

Given that the creative force behind the gala is Vogue’s own Lisa Love, it’s not surprising that fashion was almost as well represented as the film industry. Carolyn Murphy and Amber Valletta both approved of Hari Nef’s hip-baring Mugler look; Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner were dinner seatmates; Karlie Kloss and Lauren Santo Domingo led a gang of New Yorkers in town for one night only; and Kaia Gerber offered her own take on early Barbie-core in custom Celine polka dots, wearing a Tiffany’s engagement diamond as a pinky ring. Even Nicolas Ghesquière made the trip from Paris, bringing a French embassy’s worth of Louis Vuitton ambassadors along with him. (Ghesquière connected with an earlier era of his career when he spotted Taylour Paige wearing one of his 2008 creations for Balenciaga.)

Another kismet connection was made tonight between Vogue photographer Hunter Abrams and Kirsten Dunst, whose visage is memorialized as a tattoo on the photographer’s right bicep. More specifically, the tattoo is based on a still from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, though it remains unclear whether Coppola herself, also in attendance, was made aware. (Someone must tell Sofia!)

There was an unexpected bridal trend, balancing out the goth-glam funereal vibe still emanating from Hancock Park after Balenciaga’s show yesterday. Tracee Ellis Ross, Salma Hayek, Rashida Jones, and Saoirse Ronan all looked ready to walk down the aisle, while Phoebe Tonkin repurposed an actual bridal veil and Camille Rowe recreated Martha Plimpton’s forever-referenced 1989 Cannes Film Festival moment. Lupita Nyong’o brilliantly topped off her white Chanel with a bridal bouquet of baby’s breath worn in her hair.

The setting for dinner was the museum’s magnificent open-air terrace, transformed into the wood-panelled dining room of Chasen’s restaurant, a long-gone staple of Hollywood’s golden days (now the site of a Hollywood Regency-era Bristol Farms). The program’s presenters and honorees included Ava Duvernay, Oprah, Chloe Zhao, Coppola, Christopher Nolan, and Jamila Jordan, on behalf of Michael B. Jordan, with Greta Gerwig presenting the final Icon Award to Meryl Streep. (Duvernay served as a co-host, as did Dr. Eric Esrailian, Halle Berry, and Ryan Murphy.)

After dinner, many of the welcoming flamingos were repurposed as souvenirs, creating a high/low tableau along Fairfax Avenue that was worthy of John Waters, himself.