LACMA Art+Film Gala 2026: Eva Chow Says Goodbye While Denis Villeneuve Keeps Bond a Secret

Somewhere in Los Angeles on Saturday night, a museum raised almost seven million dollars while a crowd in Gucci watched a Blackpink star cover The Killers. If that sentence sounds like a fever dream written by an algorithm trained on Vogue and Variety, welcome to the LACMA Art+Film Gala 2026. The 15th edition, held on November 7, honored the Latvian-born artist Vija Celmins and the director Denis Villeneuve. It also marked the end of an era: Eva Chow, the woman who co-chaired the evening from the very first year, announced that this one was her last.

You could read the gala as just another red carpet in a season already crowded with them. That would miss the more interesting story, which is about how a single host can turn a museum fundraiser into one of the most reliable cultural events on the Hollywood calendar.

Eva Chow’s farewell after 15 years

“After 15 wonderful years, this will be my final year serving as co-chair of the Art + Film Gala,” Chow told guests, according to Los Angeles Magazine. Her co-chair this year was once again Leonardo DiCaprio. Chow, a former fashion designer and art collector who recently founded the soju brand KHEE, has been the social engine of the event since 2011. That first gala honored Clint Eastwood and the artist John Baldessari, with Stevie Wonder performing. Fifteen years later the formula is still recognisable: one visual artist, one filmmaker, one pop star and a guest list that makes the Met Gala look slightly nervous.

LACMA director Michael Govan gave Chow credit for bringing Gucci on board as presenting partner, a partnership that has defined the evening for years. He also offered the night’s most honest description of what these evenings are for. The gala is the museum’s biggest fundraiser, he said, but also its greatest “friend-raiser.” This year the total came to nearly 7 million dollars, a record, according to Govan. The money supports film programs, exhibitions, acquisitions and education.

Denis Villeneuve and the art of saying nothing about Bond

Nicole Kidman presented the film honor to Villeneuve, describing extraordinary filmmakers as artists who “reveal themselves to us through their work.” The writer Rachel Kushner paid tribute to Celmins, whose meticulous paintings and drawings of nature have made her one of the most quietly revered artists of her generation.

Villeneuve, though, had the evening’s most watched non-answer. The director, whose Dune: Part Three opens on December 18, is also preparing the next James Bond film, written by Steven Knight and produced by Amy Pascal and David Heyman. Asked by Variety on the carpet about the search for a new 007, he said he was having a great time with the process. Then he hit the brakes: every word he said, he explained, would be scrutinized. Several actors have been named in reports as possible candidates, but no casting has been announced. Consider this your official reminder that red carpet tea leaves are not a press release.

There is a nice symmetry here. The man who made a desert planet feel like a cathedral now has to reinvent a character whose wardrobe is practically a national monument. Bond has always been as much about tailoring as about gadgets. Whoever gets the tuxedo will be judged on the fit before the first line of dialogue.

The red carpet: Demna’s Gucci in the museum

Because Gucci presents the evening, the guest list doubles as a showroom. Artistic director Demna attended along with Kering chairman François-Henri Pinault and Gucci president and CEO Francesca Bellettini. W Magazine counted a long line of guests in Gucci, among them Kim Kardashian, Andrew Garfield, Viola Davis, Salma Hayek Pinault, Sarah Paulson and Sienna Miller. Kidman wore Chanel. Rosé wore Saint Laurent. Anya Taylor-Joy went archival in vintage Pierre Cardin, which is the red carpet equivalent of quoting Godard at a dinner party and getting away with it.

That mix tells you something about where celebrity dressing is right now. A presenting brand can fill a room with its own looks, yet the most talked about outfits often come from somewhere else entirely: a vintage piece, a rival house, a designer the audience did not expect. The museum setting rewards that kind of curatorial thinking. You are, after all, walking past art on your way to dinner.

Rosé, The Killers and a very LA encore

After the speeches, Paris Hilton introduced Rosé, who performed a set that included “APT.” and “Number One Girl,” the latter at Chow’s request, according to Los Angeles Magazine. She also covered The Killers’ “Read My Mind,” a song from the 2006 album Sam’s Town, which means a room full of Gen X collectors briefly had their indie disco moment again.

Why the LACMA gala matters beyond the photo galleries

It is tempting to treat these nights as content: a hundred photos, a few viral looks, a Bond quote to chew on until the next one. But the economics are real. Museums increasingly depend on events like this to finance acquisitions and public programs. Fashion houses depend on them to place their clothes in a context that feels cultural rather than commercial. LACMA has spent years building its new David Geffen Galleries. Govan joked that the gala was held under the same tent with different buildings around it.

The open question is what happens without Chow. Her departure removes the person who held together the strange chemistry of art world, film industry and fashion brand for a decade and a half. LACMA has not yet said who will take over as co-chair. If the next host can keep the guest list this eclectic and the fundraising this strong, the gala will survive. If not, it risks becoming exactly what it has avoided for 15 years: just another red carpet.