Stylish picks are no mistake
InStyle honorees Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Bill Hader bring modesty back in fashion.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Bill Hader were among those honored for their sartorial choices during the InStyle Awards on Monday night, but the event’s biggest trend turned out to be humility.
“I have never viewed myself as a style icon,” said Louis-Dreyfus, clad in a metallic look by Brandon Maxwell. “In fact, I think tonight may be a huge mistake on their part. I’m very happy to be here, but there are a lot of other people here I think of as style icons.” She glanced around the room that included Jennifer Garner, January Jones, Jessica Alba, Kirsten Dunst and Zendaya.
Hader felt similarly. “This is all new to me,” said this year’s Man of Style recipient. “I feel like I should be serving food here.”
The comedian said he recently upped his fashion game after a former assistant held an impromptu intervention with him. “I was losing my hair and I was like, ‘I think I’m losing my hair, and people are saying, “You have to get this operation,” but I don’t know if I want to do that. Should I do that?’ She looked at my hair and went, ‘You know what you could do? You could, um, dress nicer.’ I was like, ‘That would be it?’ She was like, ‘I would start there.’ ”
To emphasize his point, Hader shared a Tumblr account called Let’s Buy Bill Hader Some New Clothes that pokes fun at his daily wardrobe. “I’ve never, ever been told even once in my life that I dress nice,” he said with a laugh.
The event
For the fifth year, a wellheeled crowd gathered at the Getty Center for the intimate dinner. In addition to celebrities, the event honored a who’s who of behindthe-scenes talent for their contributions to the fashion world. The night also benefited the Getty Museum’s Arts Access program, which provides guided field trips for students from Los Angeles’ underserved schools.
The honorees
Those recognized included actress Kiki Layne, hairstylist Adir Abergel, Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy, modelturned-activist Christy Turlington Burns (who received the Advocate Award from Maybelline for her work with Every Mother Counts), makeup artist Daniel Martin, stylist Law Roach and the 2019 U.S. Women’s national soccer team, including Carli Lloyd, Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara (who picked up Secret’s Badass Women Award).
The exhibition
In honor of InStyle’s 25th anniversary, the night also featured a one-night-only exhibition, “Iconic. 25 Years of Dresses That Defined the Red Carpet,” a beautifully curated selection of memorable gowns.
Among the dresses on display within the museum’s rotunda were a red Balenciaga gown that Nicole Kidman wore to the 2007 Academy Awards; Cate Blanchett’s Armani Privé dress from the 2017 Academy Awards; a white Tom Ford look worn by Gwyneth Paltrow to the 2012 Academy Awards; and a purple Rodarte gown worn by Natalie Portman to the 2011 Academy Awards.
“I was amazed at how much I learned from seeing these dresses up close,” said InStyle’s editor at large, Eric Wilson, who worked with market and accessories director Sam Broekema on the project.
Wilson noted key details he discovered, including a special design hidden inside Lupita Nyong’o’s custom Prada gown from the 2014 Academy Awards. The look featured a crystal frog and her name written in cursive underneath the dress. “We were like, ‘Why is there a frog inside this Prada dress?’ So we called Micaela [Erlanger], the stylist. … It turned out the frog was a detail that Micaela added as a good luck charm for Lupita” because it held meaning for her as a family totem. “So she had her family close to her inside the dress,” Wilson said.
The scene
Natasha Lyonne seemed to be doing an improv comedy bit as she walked the red carpet: “I’ve been referencing myself as an AI actress all night. I’m an artificial intelligence actress passing as human . ... It takes a village to reassemble my natural robot face and put the flesh on it and then turn it into what you see here today. I told them how deeply indebted I am to those people that make me seem not A.I. so I can pass, but it’s great. I speak 42 languages.”
However, she turned serious when discussing her Rodarte dress. “I love Kate and Laura,” she said, referencing the label’s designers. “I think they’re true visionaries. They’re aesthetic masters, and it’s an honor to wear their creations.”
Zendaya sat with her longtime stylist Roach during the dinner. “It is a big moment,” Roach said. “It feels really good to be here to celebrate everybody.”
Garner kept close to her longtime hairstylist and friend Abergel.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else in the world,” said Garner. “You cannot drag me away right now. I’m so thrilled, and I want to walk around and have a little light that I shine on him the whole night.”