Ah, the Oscars red carpet. The ne plus ultra of awards season carpets. The most formal, most glamorous, most ogled, analyzed, criticized and branded carpet of them all. The one the attracts the most eyeballs and thus has the most money riding on it in terms of marketing budgets and contract riders that say this celebrity has to wear that designer because they have a formal brand ambassador relationship with the company.

This is, after all, the carpet that turned Lady Gaga into a 21st-century version of … Grace Kelly? In black satin, opera gloves and up-do. What will we see this year?

(Spoiler alert! We can tell you now, with something near certainty, which labels two nominees will be wearing: Margot Robbie will be in Chanel and Charlize Theron will be in Dior.)

Here’s what’s happening on the carpet.

The stars have begun to arrive.

It’s early yet — the show doesn’t begin until 8 p.m. E.S.T. — but past winners, present nominees and other actors from this year’s biggest films have begun to take the carpet.

Laura Dern, who is nominated for best supporting actress for her role in “Marriage Story,” appeared on the red carpet wearing a pale pink Armani Privé gown with dripping black crystals. She was escorting several family members, including her mother. Ms. Dern, who at last night’s Independent Spirit Awards was honored by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, said that it was a privilege to make movies for a living.

“Every job is complicated, every job has sacrifice,” Ms. Dern said. “But the bliss of getting to make movies as the thing you call your living is an incredible blessing.”

Bong Joon Ho, the director of “Parasite,” has appeared on the carpet, though on Saturday night, at the Independent Spirit Awards, he said he would rather be elsewhere.

“After tomorrow, I can finally go home,” he said. “That’s what makes me happiest.” “Parasite,” which is nominated in three categories tonight, including best picture, is his first film in which the actors speak primarily in Korean.

Julia Butters, whom you may know as Leonardo DiCaprio’s young scene partner in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” is wearing Christian Siriano. Asked if she had talked to Mr. DiCaprio between takes, Julia, who is 10, said that they had not talked “like crazy.”

“We wouldn’t be like, ‘Hey, let’s talk,’” she said. “We would kind of be professional.”

Regina King, who won best supporting actress last year for her role in “If Beale Street Could Talk,” spoke a bit about directing her first feature, “One Night in Miami,” a film that revisits a night that Cassius Clay, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and others spent in that city. Ms. King said that the best part of directing had been “watching my actors rise to the occasion and deliver. And feeling how much they trust me. Just that partnership that we have.”

Idina Menzel, at the awards with her husband, Aaron Lohr, said that she felt some pressure for her coming performance of “Into the Unknown,” from “Frozen 2.”

“Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio will be there, and I’d like to hit all the notes properly — not that they matter, honey!” she said to Mr. Lohr. “Not that they matter.”

Spike Lee pays tribute to Kobe Bryant: ‘He beat me.’

When the Grammys took place at Staples Center on Jan. 26, Kobe Bryant was an undeniable presence, as fans congregated at the arena to pay tribute to the former Lakers star, who had died earlier that day.

Tonight, the first visible tribute to Bryant has come from the director Spike Lee. He is wearing purple and gold and the number 24, Bryant’s number in the later part of his career.

“He beat me,” said Mr. Lee of Bryant. (Mr. Lee, famously, did not win an Oscar until 2019. Bryant won the award in 2018 for the short film “Dear Basketball.”)

Is Billy Porter making a Megxit statement?

Last year we all said thank goodness for Billy Porter in his tuxedo ball gown, using his moment in the clothes spotlight to make a point. Tonight, he’s hosting an Oscars preshow on ABC and channeling royalty in gold, with a billowing skirt printed with imagery from Kensington Palace.

“This look is all about royalty,” Mr. Porter wrote in an email ahead of the show.

We’re waiting for this year’s showstopper. (Timmy?)

There are a number of idiosyncratic dressers among the confirmed attendees; those who have just said no to the gilded cage that is a fashion contract and chosen instead to express themselves according to their own (or at least their own plus their stylist’s) taste.

Timothée Chalamet, for example, with his yen for a sparkling harness. Janelle Monáe, of the winking-eye dress. Spike Lee, of the purple-ode-to-Prince suit. Saoirse Ronan, of increasingly interesting Valkyrie sequins.

Mostly, though, we would like to know what Mr. Chalamet will wear this year. Kid Cudi, a fan (and friend) of the actor, is also excited to see what the “Little Women” man wears.

Seriously, Kid Cudi is very excited.

Here’s what else we’re watching for.

We’ll be watching closely to see what statements the stars make with their style, as well as tracking any other trends that emerge. Will the Oscars pick up the baton of sustainability that started waving at the Golden Globes, with its all-plant menu, and then was briefly adopted at the BAFTAs, as organizers urged attendees to rewear their dresses or go vintage?

That one didn’t quite take off — the only big name to have played by the rule seemed to be Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, who shopped her closet for an Alexander McQueen gown — but imagine how effective it could be.

Arianne Phillips, the costume designer nominated for an Oscar for her work on “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” has remade her last Academy Awards dress (worn in 2012) with the help of Jeremy Scott of Moschino. They stitched it up locally, and by hand, so it has a very small carbon footprint.

“Julianne Moore told me before the last Oscars I should enjoy my dress — it’s the most fun part,” Ms. Phillips said. “And it was the most beautiful I’d ever felt, but it has been just hanging in my closet. I wanted to bring a piece of that with me again, to tell my own story, and have a dress with purpose, so when someone asked me a question about it on the carpet, I had an answer.”