The most beautiful couples who have ever walked the Academy Awards red carpet

Oscar Night 2024 is just a few hours away. The 96th edition of the Academy Awards will be broadcast live on Rai 1 and RaiPlay and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, who will have to entertain the home audience and the star-studded parterre in the seats of the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. The list of presenters alone, who have to utter the fateful phrase "and the winner is"," sounds like the cast of a mega Hollywood production and heightens the anticipation for the red carpet. A few names? Zendaya, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh, Nicolas Cage, Al Pacino, Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, America Ferrera, Charlize Theron, Ariana Grande, Issa Rae, Anya Taylor-Joy, Steven Spielberg, Forest Whitaker and Ryan Gosling, who will sing the Barbie song I'm Just Ken on stage together with Mark Ronson, which is nominated in the "Best Original Song" category. However, the biggest curiosity is about this year's possible winners. Given the number of nominations, the films most likely to scoop multiple Oscars are Oppenheimer,Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon and Barbie, which despite 8 nominations has caused a stir because its director Greta Gerwig and its star and producer Margot Robbie were excluded from the main categories. If these are the titles that will also be competing for the top spot in the Best Picture category, Lily Gladstone, who is almost certain to be named Best Female Lead for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon, and Cillian Murphy, who is predicted to be the 2024 Best Male Lead for Oppenheimer, will be the most excited about these Oscars. If so, the Irish actor will have to overcome his famous aversion to social life and be in the spotlight for his acceptance speech, unless the other nominees in the same category like Paul Giamatti, Bradley Cooper, Colman Domingo or Jeffrey Wright win in a complete surprise.

What will happen on the red carpet? Although we'd love to see Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix eating a veggie burger sitting on a staircase again shortly after he won Best Actor for The Joker because they were too cute, from the new edition of the Oscars we expect less slapping between actors and more group selfies like the viral one that in 2014 captured Ellen DeGeneres, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey, Jared Leto, Channing Tatum, Lupita Nyong'o and her brother Peter in the same shot. If the latest fashion shows are any indication, perhaps we will see a return to old school glamour, with many vintage garments and new creations of understated elegance, with the addition of a few couple looks, such as the 2019 matchy-matchy one of Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet and the super-cool one of Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt who, both in black, walked the red carpet at the Academy Awards in 2000.

Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston in Halston, 1975

Anthony Hopkins and Charlotte Rampling, 1976

Sonny Bono and Cher, 1973

Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood, 1962

Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor in Christian Dior, 1961

Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes, 1975

Sophia Loren and Gregory Peck, 1963

Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, 1958

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, 1952

James Dean and Ursula Andress, 1955

Vivien Leigh in Irene Gibbons and Laurence Olivier, 1940

Grace Kelly in Edith Head/Helen Rose and Marlon Brando, 1955

It seems so far away the days when the whole world paused and watched iconic actors like Marlon Brando and Grace Kelly or Paul Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward (a record marriage for Hollywood, lasted 50 years!) collect the sought-after golden statuette. There were no Google images, no Instagram and the trends that would shape the fashion of the following months were dictated by the looks shown off on that night at the end of February, in which stars like Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston in a sequined Halston dress or Gena Rowlands in total pink on the arm of John Cassavetes were the it-girls to copy.

Jada Pinkett Smith in Versace and Will Smith, 1997

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, 2000

Nicole Kidman in Dior and Tom Cruise, 1997

Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford in Hervé Léger, 1993

Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley in Versace, 1995

River Phoenix and Martha Plimpton in vintage dress, 1989

SJP and Matthew Broderick, 1993

Gwyneth Paltrow in Calvin Klein and Brad Pitt, 1996

Madonna in Bob Mackie and Michael Jackson, 1991

Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, 1989

Edward Norton and Courtney Love in Versace, 1997

Janet Jackson and Rene Elizondo, 1994

Charlize Theron in Gucci and Stuart Townsend, 2004

Angelina Jolie in Marc Bouwer and her brother James Haven, 2000

Reese Witherspoon in Valentino and Ryan Phillippe, 2002

Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis in Chanel, 2004

Jennifer Lopez in Valentino and Ben Affleck, 2003

Julia Roberts in Valentino and Benjamin Bratt, 2001

Leonardo DiCaprio and Gisele Bundchen in Christian Dior, 2005

Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams in Vera Wang, 2006

Even the following decades have given us some couple outfits that, for better or for worse, will be difficult to rival in the 2021 edition. A few examples? In 1989 Demi Moore and Bruce Willis were perfect together, but the DIY creation (a mix of biker shorts, damask skirt and bustier) that the actress of Ghost chose to wear in front of the paparazzi is still remembered as one of the worst outfits in the Oscars history. Much more successful, however, were the style choices of Julia Roberts in a vintage Valentino, Michelle Williams in a saffron yellow Vera Wang, Gwyneth Paltrow in Calvin Klein, Jada Pinkett Smith in a lamé dress and Courtney Love in a slip dress, for both by Versace.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Versace, 2012

Leonardo DiCaprio e Kate Winslet in Ralph Lauren, 2016

Lucy Boynton in Rodarte and Rami Malek, 2019

Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara in Alexander McQueen, 2020

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves in Gabriela Cadena, 2014

Jessica Biel in KaufmanFranco and Justin Timberlake, 2017

Benjamin Millepied and Natalie Portman in Dior, 2020

Billy Porter in Christian Siriano and Adam Smith, 2019

Naomi Watts in Armani and Liev Schreiber, 2016

Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet in Fendi, 2019

A$AP Rocky & Rihanna

In the last ten years Hollywood power couples have not made any great surprises by daring with highly sophisticated looks, but have opted for major brands and classic dresses. The top five couples who have walked the red carpet of the Oscars between 2010 and 2022? Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in a Versace skirt with a deep slit; Benjamin Millepied and Natalie Portman in a Dior dress that hid a feminist statement; the bff Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Ralph Lauren; Rami Malek and Lucy Boynton in Rodarte; Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts in Armani.