The Fashion Trust U.S. Awards exist to bankroll the next great American designer — the fourth annual edition handed Zane Li the ready-to-wear prize on April 7 at Nya Studios West, Ego Nwodim hosting. Noble, important, career-funding. But let’s be honest about why we’re here: the carpet ate the ceremony alive. This was a crowd that treats fashion as a sport, and they showed up to compete — sculpted leather, denim couture, and one floating trompe-l’oeil nightgown. Here are the 15 looks that did it best.
1. Olandria Carthen in Area
Embed from Getty ImagesThe former Love Island star turned distressed denim into evening wear via an off-the-shoulder Area Spring 2026 gown – sculpted bodice, defined waist, a trailing train, and a leather belt cinched at the throat like a choker. Pair that with a brand-new pixie and a smoky 90s eye and you have a complete reinvention that still reads as her.
2. Jodie Turner-Smith in Tory Burch
Embed from Getty ImagesJodie walked out in the richer golden-orange version of Tory Burch Fall 2026 toga silhouette and made it look like the dress was designed on her body. Draped, pleated, slit to here, anchored by Christian Louboutin Millenium sandals, finished with voluminous waves and lit-from-within skin.
3. Coco Jones in Cult Gaia
Embed from Getty ImagesThe soft-pink Cult Gaia number ruched its way down every inch of her frame, with strategic cutouts and gold hardware. A slicked-back high pony let her actual face run the show, and the glam stayed polished and quiet. Coco and Cult Gaia need to keep seeing each other. This is a love story.
4. Alison Brie in Monse
Embed from Getty ImagesThe most fun dress on the carpet, and she knew it. Alison’s Monse Fall 2026 gold patchwork-grid strapless dress came with a fringed hem that turned every step into a moving picture, finished with Alder Fine Jewellery.
5. Ryan Destiny in Phan Huy
Embed from Getty ImagesRyan wore Phan Huy Spring 2026 couture (styled by Luxury Law) in a confident draped crimson with a high slit and a gold waist detail carving out the silhouette, finished with gold Stuart Weitzman sandals, sleek straight hair and bronzed, glossy glam.
6. Yara Shahidi in Mugler
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter a long hiatus, Yara returned in Mugler’s Stardust Aphrodite sculptural leather bodice in cream-peach over sleek black trousers, styled by Nell Kalonji. Defined curls pulled back, glowing skin, neutral lip. It’s minimalism with an actual edge now, and that high-impact neckline is the whole argument.
7. Aweng Chuol in Nicholas Oakwell Couture
Embed from Getty ImagesAweng’s strapless gold Nicholas Oakwell Couture SS26 gown clung to her frame and caught the light with every single step, while a sharp side-swept pixie and a deep, moody lip kept the whole thing from tipping into prom. Rich, striking, and engineered for the flashbulbs.
8. Natalia Bryant in Cult Gaia
Embed from Getty ImagesThe second Cult Gaia win of the night, because the brand was clearly on a heater. Natalia kept it classic in a black halter gown with a plunging neckline and a circular gold accent at the waist. Nothing here is trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s just an immaculate execution of a timeless idea, and timeless never loses.
9. Mindy Kaling in Simkhai
Embed from Getty ImagesProof that a column gown does not have to be a snooze. Mindy’s strapless blue Simkhai leaned hard into texture, and that single decision dragged the whole look out of safe-bridesmaid territory and into something with actual point of view.
10. Maika Monroe in Saint Laurent
Embed from Getty ImagesSaint Laurent slipped back into its lingerie-coded comfort zone, and Maika wore it beautifully – a green silk gown with delicate lace detailing. The styling was almost perfect; the only note is the black pumps, which I’d have swapped in a heartbeat. .
11. Camila Mendes in Johanna Ortiz
Embed from Getty ImagesJohanna Ortiz lives in breezy resort fantasy, so seeing Camila in a darker, subtly embellished evening version of the label felt like watching a brand grow up for the night. The shift from poolside to after-dark is the entire flex here, and she pulled it off without losing the romance.
12. Ego Nwodim in Monse
Embed from Getty ImagesHosting and dressing the part – multitasking icon behavior. Ego ran the show in a corseted Monse Pre-Fall 2026 look layered with natural yellow desert-diamond jewelry from Grandview Klein. Yes, the silhouette flirts heavily with a certain David Koma signature, but a sharp corset on a confident host is never the wrong answer.
13. Pamela Anderson in Tory Burch
Embed from Getty ImagesStay with me, because this is the most Pamela move imaginable. In an era where everyone equates “best dressed” with maximum skin and maximum sparkle, she walked in wearing soft Tory Burch tailoring in a muted print – quiet, retro, almost defiantly understated. On anyone else it might read sleepy. On her, mid-reinvention and unbothered.
14. Julia Fox in Ashley Williams
Embed from Getty ImagesOf course she did, and thank god she did. Fox rolled up in a salmon-pink Ashley Williams creation built around a trompe l’oeil trick – a silky nightgown engineered to look like it’s slipping off a little T-shirt bodice and floating in midair. Top it with a towering bouffant, Twiggy lashes and a bubblegum lip, and you’ve got the single most screenshotted look of the night.
15. Kelsea Ballerini in David Koma
Embed from Getty ImagesSoft-launch romance in dress form. Kelsea’s white David Koma Spring 2026 halter read dreamy and feminine at first glance, the kind of look that photographs like a love song. There’s a V-shaped detail under the waistline that’s a little chatty for my taste, but the overall mood – clean, bright, romantic – closes out the best-dressed list on a high, breezy note.