The rush from runway debut to red carpet spotlight has never been faster than it is this season. But is it smart to have celebrities making first impressions for the end consumer? Plus, Khaite’s epic L.A. entrance, and this week’s art, food and style must-dos.
By Booth Moore
Sarah Paulson wearing Balenciaga Spring 2026 on the red carpet for the series All's Fair by Disney+ at Teatro Copacabana Palace on Nov. 10, 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Source: Getty
Runway to Red Carpet Rush
The rush from runway to red carpet has never been faster than it is now, when a record number of luxury houses have new creative directors looking to Hollywood to spin new images for their brands.
We saw Jonathan Anderson's Dior debut runway looks on Greta Lee and Mia Goth at dueling film premieres the same night, just five days after the collection was shown at Paris Fashion Week, and even a few weeks before on some attendees of the Venice Film Festival red carpet. Lee and Goth are both Dior ambassadors, so they are literally paid to wear the clothes on the red carpet.
But other celebrities are free agents, and it’s a flex when they and their stylists — Karla Welch has been the queen of this in recent weeks — can score these coveted runway looks before anyone else, and months before they land in stores for the end consumer. It’s also an attention-grabbing strategy for stars who might not yet have a lucrative fashion ambassadorship, to audition for the part.
Teyana Taylor (left) wearing a Tom Ford Spring 2026 look, shown on the Paris runway (right) Oct. 1, 2025, to the Time100 Next at Current at Chelsea Piers on Oct. 30, 2025 in New York City. Source: Getty
During the press tour for All's Fair, we’ve seen Sarah Paulson (styled by Welch and not an ambassador for any brand) debuting Spring 2026 runway looks from Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Schiaparelli and Celine.
Promoting One Battle After Another, Teyana Taylor (styled by Wayman and Micah and my pick for the season’s breakout fashion star) has stunned in a Spring 2026 Tom Ford thong dress, and a fresh-off-the-runway Schiaparelli metallic mesh wonder.
Michelle Obama wearing Look 1 from Chanel's Spring 2026 collection. Source: Stylist Meredith Koop
But perhaps the highest-profile placement yet was on Michelle Obama, who, during her tour to promote her new book The Look: Glamour, Style, and the Hidden Power of Fashion, debuted look No. 1 from Matthieu Blazy’s debut Chanel collection. That came after she wore look No. 51, a color-paneled dress, from Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez’s first Loewe collection.
Obama wasn't campaigning in the suit, of course, she was promoting a fashion book. And she is one of the most visible women in the world, likely to draw many more eyeballs than the runway shows, which have a very niche audience.
But she is polarizing nevertheless, and Chanel and Loewe must have considered the risk that her politics might not align with some of their customers.
There’s great potential for reward among fans who look up to certain stars, love these new looks, and may not even know who the designers are. But there’s also a risk if the first impression doesn’t land. And with so many runway pieces debuting on celebrities, one wonders whether the few women who can actually afford them will still want something that’s already had so much exposure.
Sarah Paulson wearing Celine Spring 2026 arriving at The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Oct. 29, 2025 in New York, New York. Source: Getty
But the reality is that the bulk of luxury sales are not from runway clothing, not by a mile. They're from accessories, fragrance and beauty. Plus, news and images move fast. For many, it's a blip and then it's onto the next.
These runway-to-red carpet moments may actually be doing something more subliminal, akin to product placement in film. You see a Pepsi can out of the corner of your eye on screen, and the next time you are at the grocery store, you take a second look at Pepsi. You see Michelle Obama wearing Chanel while scrolling your feed, and the next time you stroll into Sephora, you notice the Chanel makeup counter you didn’t before, without even knowing why.
Khaite's at Dan Tana's. Source: Booth Moore
Khaite's L.A. Splash
Khaite designer Cate Holstein's brand continues to rise. She recently got Anna Wintour's stamp of approval when the editor wore a custom Khaite look for Vogue World: Hollywood, and opened her first L.A. store in the coveted retail space at the intersection of Melrose Ave. and Melrose Place. But when it comes to celebrating, Holstein prefers to keep things private.
Last week, to mark the opening of the store, she transformed Dan Tana’s into Khaite’s, even adding the name to the old Hollywood haunt’s iconic neon sign. It was only the second time the restaurant has ever been rented out for a private event, so the story goes. The first time was by George Clooney, so she’s in good company.
No detail was spared – there were Khaite’s branded cigarettes, lighters, pony beers served with tequila shots, naturally, and T-shirts that were parting gifts.
I saw Emma Roberts, Justine Lupe, Lisa Rinna and Kaitlyn Dever, along with stylists Petra Flannery and Rebecca Ramsey, who has known Holstein since they worked together at the Gap. Holstein’s husband, Griffin Frazen, an architect who designs all of Khaite’s retail and runway spaces, grew up in L.A., and many of the couple’s Hollywood friends were there, too.
It was a welcome break from the same-old, same-old store-opening formula. People hit the cocktails hard, which was fun; the chicken parm was as good as ever; and in true Khaite form, the event was controlled, with no outside media coverage. Hence the absence of photos, except for a few shared by guests on Instagram.
Inside Galerie on Sunset. Source: Gallerie/David Zimmerman
From The Den to Galerie
Sydney Sweeney, Lewis Hamilton, Diplo and Willow Smith are just a few of the boldfacers who have been to Galerie since it opened in the old Den spot on Sunset Boulevard, which, in the 1960s, was London Fog, where The Doors had their first residency.
A stone’s throw from the Chateau Marmont, Galerie is a cozy indoor-outdoor space with a burgundy and white checkered patio and bar that makes you want to stay awhile, plus fun extras like a photo booth for when the party gets going. It's helmed by executive chef Gabriel Lindsey and his partner (and Harrison Ford’s son), chef Ben Ford.
The cuisine is classic fare with a California twist — delicious shrimp cocktail seasoned with garlic, soy, and ponzu, served with caper rémoulade; grilled Japanese sweet potatoes with chile maple butter; a cucumber Caesar with sourdough croutons; a burger with gruyère French onion sauce; and roast chicken. There’s weekly live jazz, and a rotating lineup of guest music and art curators.
The cocktail program by Dushan Zarić, co-founder of Employees Only — one of the world’s 50 Best Bars — is still coming together. For now, there are basics like a Gibson, Negroni and Old Fashioned, but more exotic concoctions are coming, including the Double Take, a butterfly pea flower–infused mezcal cocktail layered over elderflower, passionfruit and amaro that changes color as it is stirred.
Galerie, 8226 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046.
The Casablanca store in Beverly Hills. Source: Casablanca/Josh Cho
Casablanca Arrives in L.A.
French-Moroccan designer Charaf Tajer’s luxe leisurewear brand may be named Casablanca, but his heart has always been in L.A.
Now, he has opened his second store in the world here, showcasing his full range of men’s and women’s clothing and accessories, including a newly dropped ski capsule collection and exclusive L.A. T-shirt that reads, “Happiness is California.”
“When I was younger, I’d go to L.A. and be quite obsessed by its many cultures, from skateboarding, cinema, music, the Chicano culture, the architecture and design movements. All of these meeting points create the juxtapositions of L.A. The city is a living paradox. It’s a sunny place by the sea, but it can also be tough and extreme,” said Tajer, who is based in Paris but in recent years has strengthened his brand ties to L.A. — and to local celebrity fans LeBron James, Doechii, Justin Bieber and others — by creating a smoothie for Erewhon and a Coachella collection for Maxfield.
Located in a former bank building at the corner of Little Santa Monica and Canon Drive in Beverly Hills, the airy store houses maximalist silk-print shirts and shorts, court-style sportswear and sunny beachwear that evoke the seven-year-old brand’s alluring vision of life on a permanent vacation.
Casablanca, 469 N Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Casablanca Beverly Hills. Source: Casablanca/Josh Cho
Kathleen Ryan, Dreamhouse, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Karma. Source: Karma/Jeff McLane
A Dose of Fruit and Fiber
New York artist Kathleen Ryan’s famous monumental-sized, bejeweled sculptures of rotting fruit in precious malachite, lapis lazuli, quartz, coral and other precious stones are both glitzy and grotesque, something L.A. knows a bit about.
Her latest show Souvenir, at Karma in West Hollywood through Dec. 20, features the juicy new work above titled Dreamhouse, that's roughly the size of a minivan. Other pieces mark an evolution in materials, including cast-concrete peaches with car engines for pits, and supersized children's plastic toy rings made from soda cans and bowling balls, playing with the many facets of jewelry's value.
Meanwhile, at Lisson Gallery on Sycamore Avenue, trailblazing nonagenarian fiber artist Olga de Amaral is having her first solo exhibition in L.A. in nearly a decade, following her inclusion in Woven Histories at LACMA and recent retrospectives at ICA Miami and Fondation Cartier in Paris.
Spanning from the early 1970s through 2018, the exhibition open Nov. 14 to Jan. 17, explores how her work blurred the lines between weaving, painting and sculpture, to create a language all her own and elevate fiber art to fine art. In linen, wool, horsehair, Japanese paper, acrylic and precious metals, the landmark works demonstrate how her textiles are not just decorative backdrops but monuments themselves.
Olga de Amaral, Agua Azul 2018. Linen, gesso, acrylic and Japanese paper. Source: Lisson Gallery
Forwarded this newsletter?
Subscribe here to get WrapStyle directly every week!
Have a news story for our readers? Please email booth.moore@thewrap.com