Nominees, filmmakers, musicians, artists, and Mick Jagger turned up at the Polo Lounge
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
Photography courtesy of GETTY IMAGES and VIRGILE GUINARD
CHANEL and CHARLES FINCH Annual Pre-Oscar Dinner at the Polo Lounge In Beverly Hills
A phalanx of creatives, including this year’s Academy Award nominees Jessie Buckley, Rose Byrne, Teyana Taylor, Wagner Moura, Elle Fanning, Delroy Lindo, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Maggie Kang, Joachim Trier, Clint Bentley, and Josh Safdie and previous Oscar winners Nicole Kidman, Adrien Brody, Al Pacino, Javier Bardem, and Alexandre Desplat, arrived at the Polo Lounge on Saturday, March 14, for a dinner cohosted by Chanel and Charles Finch, now in its 17th year. Taking place on Oscars eve, the gathering brought out film veterans including Sigourney Weaver, Sharon Stone, Stellan Skarsgård, Maya Rudolph, Leslie Mann, Meg Ryan, and Ethan Hawke as well as industry heads Ted Sarandos and Jeff Bezos, and the incomparable Mick Jagger. Many wore designs by the French house’s new artistic director, Matthieu Blazy, as did Lily-Rose Depp, Kristen Stewart, Gracie Abrams, Sarah Pidgeon, Kidman’s daughters Faith Urban and Sunday Rose Urban, and C’s current cover star Maude Apatow.
Finch, the British film producer and publisher who has cohosted the final bash before the Academy Awards ceremony for nearly two decades, pointed out Chanel’s longstanding ties to cinema, beginning with its founder Gabrielle Chanel. She worked with Hollywood studio heads and French directors Jean Renoir, Alain Resnais, and Louis Malle in addition to Nouvelle Vague actresses Jeanne Moreau and Romy Schneider. The house’s continued support of independent directors was also top of mind, from funding initiatives to its recent role offering production support and loaning costumes to films by Stewart, Sofia Coppola, Olivier Assayas, Pablo Larraín, Greta Gerwig, Richard Linklater, and more. On hand at the gathering, filmmakers Trier, Bentley, and Safdie were joined by Judd Apatow, Ava DuVernay, J. J. Abrams, Jason Reitman, and Patty Jenkins. Finch said, “Being on a film set reminds you that cinema is a universal language. On the film I’m working on now, the crew includes British, American, French, and Portuguese artisans, all united by one goal: to bring a story to life.” For Finch, narratives are central to the party. “That spirit is what tonight is about — and how this dinner originated: celebrating cinema, storytelling, and the storytellers who make the magic happen.”
March 16, 2026
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