BFI London Film Festival 2026 red carpet: the five best looks, and how to actually wear them

London did not do casual this week. The 70th BFI London Film Festival ran its gala premieres across Leicester Square from the 8th to the 19th, and the carpet went long, satin and metallic almost every night. I counted twenty-two looks worth talking about. Five of them I have not stopped thinking about, and those are the five below.

A word on how this column works, because it is a little different. I do not just tell you who wore what. For each look I go into the stores we work with and find the piece itself, if the house sells it. Most of the time it does not, because a runway gown from Spring 2027 is not in any shop in October 2026. So I find the fits that get you the same silhouette, the same colour, the same idea, and I say which one I would buy. Then I finish the look the way the stylist on the night did: shoes, bag, one piece of jewellery. Nothing here is a celebrity photo; the links at the bottom take you to the coverage.

One more thing. Every price is what the store listed on 17 October 2026. They move. The yellow Self-Portrait will not be $490 forever.

Carey Mulligan in silver pleated Celine

Wildwood premiere · Celine Spring 2027

This is the one. Mulligan opened Wildwood in a floor-length Celine from the Spring 2027 show, silver, knife-pleated from the bust down, with the pleats doing all the work. No jewellery to speak of, hair back, done. It photographs like liquid because every pleat catches a different light, and that is the whole trick: you do not need embellishment when the fabric moves.

Celine is in our network, with a few hundred pieces live, but the runway gown is not retailed yet and may never be. So the question is which pleated metallic gown gets you the same effect, and the honest answer is that the best one costs $598 and is by Retrofete.

Original fits that will make you look like Carey

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  RetrofeteRetrofete Maytal Gown$598Liquid silver to the floor with a slit, and it moves the way the Celine pleats move. This is the one I would buy.Shop the piece
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  Herve LegerHerve Leger The Metallic Bailey Cutout Gown$1,295Hervé Léger's metallic Bailey is the body-con reading of the same look. More cut-outs than Mulligan wore, same shine.Shop the piece
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  Teri Jon By Rickie FreemanTeri Jon by Rickie Freeman Basket Weave Jacquard Off-the-Shoulder Gown$610Off the shoulder in a silver jacquard. Less liquid, more structure, for the night you want the silver without the cling.Shop the piece

Complete the look

• ShoesGianvito RossiGianvito Rossi Women's Eternity Sandal$930Silver on silver works when the shoe is a thin strappy sandal and not a pump. Gianvito Rossi's Eternity, with the crystal ankle strap, is that shoe.Shop the piece
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  Jewellerymaison-margielaMaison Margiela Rectangular Drop Earrings$645One rectangular silver drop. Nothing else, or you fight the pleats.Shop the piece

Virginie Efira in black satin Saint Laurent

All of a Sudden premiere · Saint Laurent

Efira is the best dressed woman in French cinema and nobody outside France seems to know it. For the London premiere of All of a Sudden she wore Saint Laurent black satin, plunging to the waist, gathered at the hip, floor length, with a black clutch and black satin pumps. It is the least complicated look of the week and the one I would copy first.

Saint Laurent is in our network with nearly two thousand pieces. The gown itself is not among them, but a black Saint Laurent mini with a belt is, and that gets you the house. For the length and the satin, the Alexander McQueen hammered satin gown is the closest thing I found anywhere, and the Loewe gathered satin dress is the quieter cousin.

Original fits that will make you look like Virginie

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  Saint LaurentSaint Laurent Black Mini Dress with Belt$1,386Same house, same black, same belt-at-the-waist attitude, at cocktail length. The YSL way in if you do not need the floor.Shop the piece
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  MCQUEENMcQueen Hammered Satin Gown$2,280Hammered black satin to the floor with a deep neckline. This is the look-alike. If you buy one gown from this column, make it this.Shop the piece
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  LoeweGathered Dress in Satin€3,100Loewe's gathered satin dress has the drape at the hip that makes the Efira look move. Black, obviously.Shop the piece

Complete the look

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  ShoesManolo BlahnikSumba 105 Satin Ankle Strap Pumps€1,395Black satin ankle-strap pumps. She wore satin pumps; these are the ones.Shop the piece
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  BagSaint LaurentSaint Laurent Uptown Clutch in Grain Leather$800The Uptown clutch in black grain leather is the Saint Laurent clutch you see on every carpet, including this one.Shop the piece

Cynthia Erivo in canary-yellow Prada with black bows

Prima Facie premiere · Prada

Erivo does colour better than anyone on a carpet right now and this Prada is proof: a canary-yellow gown with black bows pinned down the front, black heels, and that was it. It is a lot of yellow. It is supposed to be a lot of yellow. The black bow is what stops it being a bridesmaid dress.

Prada is in our network with around two and a half thousand pieces and not one of them is a yellow gown. So the brief here is colour first, bow second. Self-Portrait made a taffeta mini in exactly this yellow with exactly this bow, and Nobody's Child did a butter-yellow bow midi for fifty-two pounds, which is the cheapest way into any look in this column.

Original fits that will make you look like Cynthia

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  Self-PortraitSelf-Portrait Taffeta Bow Mini Dress$490Yellow taffeta, one big bow. This is the closest you will get to the Erivo look at mini length, and it is under $500.Shop the piece
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  Nina RicciAsymmetric One Shoulder Mini Dress Yellow - FR 40$1,595Nina Ricci's one-shoulder mini in yellow is the grown-up, no-bow version. Wear it with black shoes and you are there.Shop the piece
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  Nobody's ChildButter Yellow Bow Keyaa Midi Dress£52Butter yellow, a bow, a midi, £52. For less, done properly.Shop the piece

Complete the look

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  ShoesferragamoFerragamo Ferrara Vara Bow Leather High-Heeled Sandal with Adjustable Ankle Strap$597A black sandal with a bow, because the bow is the point of the look. Ferragamo's Vara bow on a heel, under $600.Shop the piece
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  BagSelf-PortraitSelf-Portrait Mini Satin Oval Clutch$560Black satin, small, oval. From the same house as the yellow dress, so it reads as a set.Shop the piece

Gemma Chan in Dries Van Noten

Josephine premiere · Dries Van Noten Fall 2026

Chan wore the Daralyn dress from the Dries Van Noten Fall 2026 collection to the Josephine premiere: a long, printed, many-coloured column that only Dries does, with the colours clashing on purpose. There is no look-alike for a Dries print. Anybody who tells you otherwise is selling you a different dress.

So this one is a house pick. Dries Van Noten is in our network with nearly nine hundred pieces, and the Daralyn itself is not among them, but the house's current dresses carry the same colour play. The fuchsia Robe au Genou is the one I would wear if I wanted Dries without the runway price. Finish it with gold, not silver; Dries colours want warmth.

Original fits that will make you look like Gemma

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  Dries Van NotenDries Van Noten Robe Au Genou - Fuchsia€1,345Fuchsia, knee-length, the Dries cut. The colour alone does what the print does on Chan.Shop the piece
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  Dries Van NotenDries Van Noten Pleated Fringe Midi Dress$1,302Pleats and fringe, Dries's signature movement, at midi length.Shop the piece
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  Dries Van NotenMesh-Yoke Maxi Dress - FR 42$1,605The mesh-yoke maxi is the closest in length to the Daralyn, from the same house.Shop the piece

Complete the look

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  Jewelleryvalentino-garavaniValentino Garavani Crystal Teardrop and Heart Drop Earrings$497Crystal teardrops in gold. Against a Dries print you want one warm, slightly odd earring, and these are that.Shop the piece

Jenna Ortega in a gold lace slip by Torlowei

Klara and the Sun premiere · Torlowei

The surprise of the festival. Ortega walked Klara and the Sun in a custom gold slip with black lace at the bust and hem by Torlowei, a Lagos label most people in Leicester Square had never heard of, and it was the most photographed dress of the night. Bias-cut, liquid, lace doing the talking. It is a nineties slip with the volume turned up.

Torlowei is not in our network and the dress is custom, so this is a pure look-alike. The idea is a gold slip plus lace. boohoo, of all people, makes a champagne-gold slip with a lace hem for twenty-one dollars, and it is the closest thing to the Ortega dress in any store we work with. Shoshanna's Raven lace maxi in gold is the lace half done expensively. Gold sandals, gold clutch, and stop.

Original fits that will make you look like Jenna

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  boohooboohoo Women's Lace Hem Slip Dress in Champagne | Size: 10 | Woven$22Champagne-gold slip, lace at the hem, $21. It is the Ortega dress in idea and almost in fact. Buy two.Shop the piece
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  ShoshannaShoshanna Raven Lace Maxi Dress$536Gold lace to the floor. It is the lace half of the look, and it holds its own without the slip.Shop the piece
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  Mac DuggalMac Duggal Metallic Ruched Detail Front Slip V Neck Gown$219A gold metallic slip gown with a ruched front, for the version of this look that wants to be seen from across the room.Shop the piece

Complete the look

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  ShoesGianvito RossiGianvito Rossi Women's Shanti Sandals$1,395Gianvito Rossi's Shanti in gold. Thin straps so the shoe disappears under the slip.Shop the piece
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  BagJimmy ChooJimmy Choo Emmie Brilliance Clutch$895Jimmy Choo's Emmie in gold. Small, hard, catches light the way the dress does.Shop the piece

Coming up: going to one of these?

The next four carpets, and what I would wear to each. Selections get a full column the week before.

CFDA Fashion Awards · 2 November 2026, New York

Going to the CFDAs, or to anything in New York that week? It is an American-designer room, so wear an American designer. Khaite's black knee-length dress is the quiet-luxury answer and Tory Burch's pleated silk-blend maxi is the one that photographs.

• Khaite Robe Au Genou - Noir, €4,980
• Tory Burch Silk-Blend Pleated Maxi Dress, $508

LACMA Art + Film Gala · 7 November 2026, Los Angeles

Gucci presents it, so the carpet will be a Gucci carpet. If you are anywhere near it, this long black jersey dress with crystal embroidery is the house's current statement, and the horsebit pump is the shoe that goes with everything else you own.

• Gucci Long Jersey Dress with Crystal Embroidery, $7,025
• Gucci Horsebit Leather Pump with Pointed Toe and Mid Stiletto Heel, $1,254

Governors Awards · 15 November 2026, Los Angeles

Black tie, the Academy's quietest night. We will do the selection the week before.

Gotham Awards · 30 November 2026, New York

The first proper awards carpet of the season. Same: selection the week before.

Coverage via Red Carpet Fashion Awards and Tom + Lorenzo; celebrity photographs belong to the agencies and we link to them rather than copy them. Prices as listed by each store on 17 October 2026 and will change. We earn a commission when you buy through our links; it does not change what I pick.

Sources: Red Carpet Fashion Awards, best dressed of the week, 17 Oct 2026 · Tom + Lorenzo, Klara and the Sun premiere · Tom + Lorenzo, Wildwood premiere