Why Was Everyone Dressed in Red at the SAG Awards?

The red carpet at last night’s SAG Awards was, in fact, gray—but all of the celebrities in red designs made up for the otherwise muted step and repeat. Lily Gladstone shined in her fringed cherry-red Armani halter gown; Meryl Streep looked elegant in her sheer, burgundy Prada dress with embellishments; Halle Bailey channeled more of a mermaid silhouette with her merlot-colored Dolce & Gabbana strapless look. Red proved to be the real breakout color of the night—whether it was extra-bright hues or deeper crimsons. So, what gives?

Perhaps there was a deeper meaning to all of those red ensembles. Red is a color that’s typically associated with qualities of danger, courage, passion, love, and even anger. In the context of the SAG Awards—a relatively low-stakes red carpet, compared to the bigger Golden Globes or Oscars events—perhaps the element of “courage” and “danger” could be seen as stars being more willing to take risks and go bold with their fashion choices. There’s less pressure to play it safe! It would certainly explain all of the red last night, a color that instantly gets you noticed.

It so happens that red has been a big trend on the runways recently, too. Across the fall 2024 collections, the shade has been taking over the catwalks; Jil Sander had bright red coats, Ferragamo a fiery turtleneck dress, and Versace even had saucy red leather gloves and bags. So the presence of red at the SAG Awards could also just be all of the celebrity stylists simply doing their jobs—predicting what the hottest new color is going to be next season.

Whatever the case may be, it’s not unusual for an awards show to establish a new color trend. Earlier this year, the Golden Globes also saw red emerge as the night’s go-to shade. Intentionally or not, it seems stars always show up dressed in sync, and last night, the universal fashion M.O. was clearly red-hot. Now, we wonder what the breakout hue of the upcoming Oscars will be. Our prediction? Considering how past Oscars have seen guests dress just like the Oscars statuette, expect many A-listers going for gold.

Below, see more of the red looks from the 2024 SAG Awards.