Inside Chanel’s Tweed and Celeb-Filled Pre-Oscar Party

It’s been 88 years since Gabrielle Chanel and a few friends boarded a private train carriage and began a four-day trip across the United States to Hollywood. The car, commissioned especially for the French couturière by film mogul Sam Goldwyn, featured an all-white interior and champagne aplenty, which might have helped enliven the experience of traversing the country. Chanel’s 1932 journey marked the beginning of the Parisian fashion house’s longstanding relationship with cinema, which it celebrated last night once again with a dazzling pre-Oscars dinner hosted by Charles Finch.

The 12th iteration of this famously intimate event was held at the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel in an atmosphere more akin to a family reunion than a dinner packed with some of the industry’s most resonant names. After successfully clearing the hurdle of the red carpet and its storm of camera flashes (it’s the one time you’ll see celebrities patiently wait in line), guests were greeted by a six-member Mariachi band, a staple of the party—with the exception of last year, when the tradition was suspended out of respect to the recent passing of Karl Lagerfeld.

New arrivals were then warmly welcomed by Mr. Finch, before making their way into a small yard, where they vied for the attention of liveried wait staff serving up a first round of cocktails in front of the verdant backdrop of the Polo Lounge.

Despite an exclusive guest list capped at 150 seats, the space was soon crowded with some of cinema’s heavyweights as well as a number of fresh faces. Robert De Niro engaged in animated conversation with Harvey Keitel and Judd Apatow, while Margaret Qualley in a classic black satin jacket and skirt combo could be seen sneaking up to Phoebe Tonkin and Laura Love before going in for a hug. And it was not just actors. Jeff Bezos rubbed shoulders with hotelier André Balazs and Brett Easton Ellis. Some of the later arrivals included Chanel ambassadors Margot Robbie in a stunning black jersey dress and Penelope Cruz, who donned a radiant pink tweed jacket and skirt. The Spanish actress was accompanied by long-term collaborating partner Pedro Almodóvar, who, with sunglasses and a bright turquoise ensemble almost managed to draw the attention away from his muse. Camila Morrone only entered when an attendant had already started calling guests inside for dinner with a xylophone. As the town was awaiting the culmination of the frenzied awards season, many of its main protagonists settled into the cozy booths of the Polo Lounge to continue their conversations over dinner.

As for Coco Chanel’s own Hollywood adventure, suffice it to say, that she was unimpressed with the place: “Like an evening at the Folies Bergère,” the designer reportedly said of her time in Tinseltown, comparing it to the infamous grand spectacle back home. She returned to Paris and went on to make costumes for some of cinema’s greatest masterpieces, including Jean Renoir’s La Règle du Jeu and Alain Resnais’s enigmatic L'Année dernière à Marienbad, which has recently been restored with the support from the fashion house that bears her name.