Charles Finch and Chanel Mark 15 Years Celebrating Oscar’s Eve

The eclectic gathering underscored the house’s deep ties to film

Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
Photography by GETTY IMAGES and BFA

Robert De Niro, Tiffany Chen, Danny Huston.

One of the year’s most glamorous dinners, a testament to Gabrielle Chanel’s personal connection to cinema, has paired together Charles Finch and the French fashion house for the past 15 awards seasons in Los Angeles. Guests arriving on Saturday, March 9, at the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge on the eve of the Academy Awards once again joined Finch, a film producer and founder of brand development firm Finch + Partners, to dine with a bevy of fellow artists gathered in town to toast current projects or future plans — and, for many, to don Virginie Viard’s designs for Chanel.

Margot Robbie, nominated as a Barbie producer, joined fellow nominees America Ferrera, Robert De Niro, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Sandra Hüller, Justine Triet, Jonathan Glazer, Colman Domingo, and Jacqueline Durran alongside friends of the house like Kristen Stewart and Dylan Meyer, Lily-Rose Depp, Phoebe Tonkin, Usher, Rebecca Hall, Alexandra Shipp, Ava DuVernay, and Chloë Sevigny. Also on hand were Willem Dafoe, Danny Huston, Jack Huston, Daniel Kaluuya, Maya Rudolph, David and Jessica Oyelowo, Dominic Sessa, Kerry Washington, Havana Rose Liu, Tessa Thompson, and Riz Ahmed, plus many more. Photographer and street artist JR trained his lens on multiple subjects throughout the evening.

“It’s such a nice moment to celebrate before things get too crazy tomorrow night,” said Robbie, noting she collaborated with Chanel on Barbie, which she also starred in. She called the film, nominated for eight Oscars, “another great example of how these two worlds collide,” pointing to the inherent connections between cinema and fashion. Another member of the film’s matriarchy, Alexandra Shipp, agreed. “Film and fashion kind of go hand in hand when you get to see clothing move and how someone takes on this energy and this character through clothing.”

LEFT: Ava DuVernay. RIGHT: Margot Robbie.

DuVernay noted that fashion and film have always been intertwined. “You really can’t have film without fashion,” the director said. “Every single scene we think about how we adorn ourselves and how we tell stories.” Author and actor Kerry Washington talked about how costuming helps clarify who she is playing when she begins a new role. “I learn so much about my character through what they’re wearing,” said Washington. “It’s such a wonderful way into knowing who a character is.”

“Gabrielle Chanel was such a champion for women in the arts,” said Phoebe Tonkin, Robbie’s costar in the ensemble film Babylon about 1920s Hollywood. Indeed, Chanel designed costumes for the Ballets Russes before coming to Los Angeles to dress such actresses as Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn in the latest from Paris at the behest of United Artists’ Samuel Goldwyn. She maintained close ties with filmmakers throughout her career, including with France’s Nouvelle Vague directors. The house’s current initiatives preserve and restore films and support numerous artists at work in the medium through grants, costumes, and film festival partnerships.

Joan Collins, Jon Batiste, Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow, Olivia Munn and John Mulaney, Sophie Mas, Patrick and Jillian Dempsey, James Marsden, Adrien Brody, Michael Keaton, Minnie Driver, Alexander Payne, J.A. Bayona, Cord Jefferson, David Heyman, Derek Blasberg and Nick Brown, Celine Song, Cleo Wade, Matteo Garrone, Jacqueline Stewart, Jennifer Meyer, David O. Russell, Jennifer Salke, Kelly Sawyer, Ted Sarandos, and Nicole Avant also made their way to the Polo Lounge patio for cocktails before heading inside to dine on steak au poivre, chicken parmesan, and truffle-scented mushroom risotto followed by mini versions of the hotel’s take on Marilyn Monroe’s beloved ice cream sundae — mint chip ice cream, malted milk foam, hot fudge, and sour cherries — that made the rounds as guests once again wished each other well in the coming day.