Every year on the evening before the Oscars, Giorgio Armani Beverly Hills salutes an Oscar nominee.
Last night it was Martin Scorsese, the famed director of “Killers of the Flower Moon.” There were plenty of parties last night all over town, but this gathering was the hard ticket you couldn’t buy — and everyone wanted to be there.
Not only did Scorsese arrive to applause but so did Oscar nominees Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro, plus Thelma Schoonmaker, the Oscar nominated editor. So did legendary production designer Jack Fisk, Oscar nominated again, who was accompanied by his Oscar winning wife, Sissy Spacek.
Leonardo DiCaprio was expected but instead sent his father, stepmother, and publicists. You can’t have everything. But we ran into Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, Christoph Waltz, Jack Huston, Dolph Lundgren, Jane Seymour, Allison Williams, last year’s Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, comedian John Mulaney and Olivia Munn, Ramy Yousseff, Scott Eastwood, Regé-Jean Page, Nicolas Cage, and so on. So many stars and Hollywood types jammed the gorgeous Armani store that Scorsese et al fled to the second level platform that was spontaneously turned into a VIP section.
What’s the expectation for tonight as “Oppenheimer” looms in almost every category? Schoonmaker told me on Friday night at the annual Women in Film bash: “We’re realistic about our chances. But we are all hoping and rooting for Lily.”
Gladstone wowed the deep crowd outside the Armani store and inside as well. When I caught up with her in the VIP section she told me she was still writing her potential acceptance speech, but hadn’t finished it yet. Gladstone’s awards circuit speeches have been so literate and engaging, I hope she gets to give a new one tonight!
PS We loved our time in the Armani boutique but alas, no gift bags! One female guest said to me: I keep bumping into this sequined top! it must mean something.” Not without a credit card!
