Broadway’s biggest night happened June 7 at Radio City Music Hall, Pink hosted, Schmigadoon! walked off with Best Musical — and the red carpet understood the assignment better than half the acceptance speeches. The Tonys are the one carpet where theater kids are supposed to give you a full third-act reveal, and this year the divas delivered capes, custom Prada, and a maternity moment I’m still not over. I went through every arrival so you don’t have to. Here are the 10 looks worth a standing ovation, ranked by yours truly.
1. Queen Latifah in Naeem Khan
Embed from Getty ImagesSome people wear a gown. Queen Latifah wears an entrance. She arrived in a sleek black gown buried under a dramatic green-and-black feathered cape, and the whole thing moved like it had its own choreography. This is exactly the kind of theatrical maximalism the Tonys were invented for, and she’s done the cape thing before – except this time it read like the curtain going up on the best number of the night. Regal. Operatic. The carpet was hers and everyone else was just a featured ensemble.
2. Megan Thee Stallion in Mitiliane Couture
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter closing out her run in Moulin Rouge, Megan hit the carpet in a sheer sequined gown with a 3-D sculptural waist detail and a halter neckline, all of it built on a scalloped pattern that turned every camera flash into a strobe. It’s the rare naked dress that’s actually about the architecture and not just the skin – the kind of look that makes you respect the construction and the audacity. She didn’t just visit Broadway. She conquered it and dressed for the encore.
3. Ariana DeBose in Fforme
Embed from Getty ImagesDeBose kept the silhouette minimal and let the emerald fabric do every ounce of the talking – that sheen alone could power a marquee. There’s a lesson in restraint here that most stars haven’t learned: when the fabric is this good, you get out of its way. She’s a former Tony winner who knows precisely how to own this carpet, and she proved it with a gown that looks simple for about half a second and then refuses to leave your brain.
4. Rose Byrne in custom Prada
Embed from Getty ImagesByrne and stylist Kate Young played the room like seasoned pros, refusing to reveal the designer of her glistening column gown until the big reveal landed: custom Prada, finished with delicate black bows on each shoulder and Roberto Coin jewelry doing the sparkling. The bows are the whole thesis – one tiny, precise detail that takes a clean column from “lovely” to “I need a closer look.”
5. Carrie Coon in Altuzarra
Embed from Getty ImagesCoon walked the carpet as a Best Leading Actress in a Play nominee and dressed like she’d already rehearsed the win. Her two-tone Altuzarra gown reinterprets a showman’s tuxedo with a contrasting plunge neckline and an open back – then she topped it with wire-rim glasses, which is the single most disarming styling choice of the night. Cool-girl tailoring with a wink. She might not have taken the trophy, but she took the carpet.
6. Deborah Cox in Marc Bouwer
Embed from Getty ImagesThe R&B legend came to shimmer. Cox poured herself into a turquoise sequined gown dripping in silver embellishment, with long matching gloves and a sweeping train that demanded its own zip code. This is the Tonys formula at full volume – color, texture, drama, glamour – executed by someone who has zero interest in playing it safe. The gloves alone are a statement. The train is a love letter to old-school showstopper dressing.
7. Danielle Brooks in Wiederhoeft
Embed from Getty ImagesBrooks chose an off-the-runway Wiederhoeft corset gown – the same sculpting label Taylor Swift and Samara Weaving have been circling – and made it her own with a low-scooping neckline and miles of shimmer. The silver fit her like it was poured on, and she paired it with a sleek wet-look bob with flipped ends. It’s body-positive glamour with serious structural engineering underneath, and she wore the entire thing like a woman who already knew the cameras would follow her.
8. Aubrey Plaza in Chanel
Embed from Getty ImagesGive the stylists their flowers: Jessica Paster put Plaza in a striped Chanel gown that hugged her pregnant frame and looked leagues more elevated than anything the “maternity” label usually implies. Chanel’s fabrics and beading do a lot of heavy lifting, sure, but the genius is in treating a maternity moment like a full couture event rather than an afterthought. Every mom in that audience was taking notes.
9. Sarah Paulson in Erdem
Embed from Getty ImagesPaulson showed up as a presenter and still dressed like she was in contention. Her drop-waist Erdem dress came loaded with silken flowers and strategically placed bows – styled by Karla Welch – and it brought desperately needed romance to a carpet that leaned heavily on black, white, and silver. When everyone else goes pared-back, the person who commits to a little fantasy wins. Paulson committed.
10. Kara Young in Tory Burch
Embed from Getty ImagesOn a break from her run in Proof, Young served a chartreuse Tory Burch gown with off-the-shoulder draping that caught the light beautifully, finished with a sleek ponytail, swooped baby hairs, and a bold beat. The best of American fashion meets the best of American theater – and chartreuse is a choice, the kind only someone with real carpet confidence makes. She made it look easy.
Honorable Mentions
Cole Escola in Christopher John Rogers – The Oh, Mary! genius traded showed up in hot-pink satiny power suit, topped with a red wig and a co-star cameo from Maya Rudolph. Camp, color, and chaos in the best possible way – nobody commits to a bit like Escola.
Embed from Getty ImagesLesley Manville in Loewe – she collected her Best Leading Actress trophy for Oedipus in a vivid orange sequined off-the-shoulder Loewe gown with generous draping at the neckline and sleeves, plus matching slingbacks.
Embed from Getty ImagesRachel Zegler in Michael Kors Collection – Prepping for her Broadway return in Evita, Zegler leaned all the way into minimalism in a streamlined Michael Kors gown styled by Sarah Slutsky.
Embed from Getty ImagesNichelle Lewis in Wiederhoeft – A strapless nude gown with a corset-inspired bodice and a sculptural peplum, dusted in delicate embellishment. Soft, romantic, and stage-ready – peplum is back and she made the case.
Embed from Getty ImagesLaw Roach in Louis Vuitton – The stylist-to-the-stars dressed himself in head-to-toe LV: clean tailoring, a jeweled brooch, a structured handbag, and that signature buss-down middle part. All-black never misses when the man is the blueprint.
Embed from Getty ImagesUsher & Jennifer Goicoechea in Tom Ford – Best couple moment of the carpet. Usher layered a brown blazer over all-black; Jennifer answered in a patterned deep-V gown with black trim. Coordinated, sharp, zero notes.
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