The Art of the Cutout: Emma Stone’s BAFTA Gown Is a Masterpiece in Restraint and Risk
If there is one actress who understands that a red carpet appearance is, at its finest, a form of performance art, it is Emma Stone. At the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, held at London’s majestic Royal Festival Hall on February 22nd, Stone arrived not merely dressed, but composed — every detail a deliberate, confident declaration from a woman who has long since earned the right to take up exactly as much space as she pleases.
The Oscar-winning actress, nominated for Leading Actress for her role in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, chose a floor-length black halterneck gown that announced itself the moment she stepped onto the carpet. The drama was immediate and architectural: a sweeping keyhole cutout carved through the bodice, plunging almost to the navel, baring her torso with a boldness that felt entirely intentional and entirely Stone. This was not an accident of styling. This was a statement, signed and delivered.
A generous train pooled behind her as she moved, offering the briefest, most tantalizing glimpse of strappy black heeled sandals beneath the hem — the kind of understated footwear choice that speaks to a woman who knows the gown is doing precisely enough talking on its own.
Her signature auburn hair, recently cut into a chic bob, was swept into a soft romantic updo, with carefully placed face-framing tendrils drawing attention to her impeccably executed black eyeliner and luminous, dewy complexion. The beauty look struck that rare, coveted balance between polished and effortless. Diamond stud earrings and a delicate diamond bracelet provided quiet sparkle — restrained, intelligent accessorizing that allowed the extraordinary dress to remain the uncontested protagonist of the evening.
This marks Stone’s sixth BAFTA nomination, and she arrives with impressive pedigree: she has taken home the Best Actress prize twice before, for La La Land in 2017 and Poor Things in 2024. Her ongoing creative partnership with Lanthimos continues to produce some of contemporary cinema’s most provocative, boundary-pushing work — and Stone, for her part, has spoken warmly about their remarkable artistic synergy.
On this particular London evening, however, it was her mastery of fashion’s most intoxicating language that left the room breathless. Emma Stone did not attend the BAFTAs. She owned them.
