StyleWeekOC 2026 brought fashion presentations, beauty experiences and film conversations together at Fashion Island from October 14 to 18, marking the event’s 15th year and its third collaboration with the Newport Beach Film Festival. The five-day programme at 401 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660, connected department stores, boutiques, restaurants and public gathering spaces, with a weekend lineup that included Jamie Chung, Aaron Sorkin, Keltie Knight, Max Alexander and Emmy Rossum.
The partnership gave the retail centre a role beyond hosting a single runway show. Fashion and beauty events sat alongside live interviews and documentary screenings, while participating stores brought activities inside their own locations. The Newport Beach Film Festival’s October 15 to 22 run overlapped with StyleWeekOC, creating a shared calendar for shopping and screen culture.
Beauty and Runway Events Opened the Programme
The official schedule began on October 14 with Bloomingdale’s Red Carpet Ready beauty event, bringing together more than 20 beauty brands. On October 15, Neiman Marcus’s runway presentation featured more than 50 looks from its fall ready-to-wear designer collections, interpreting the event’s Sunlit Glamoratti theme through a department-store assortment.
The opening-night Taste of Style gala extended the programme into dining. Presented by the Newport Beach Film Festival, it included more than 10 Fashion Island restaurants, among them JOEY Newport Beach, Sushi Roku, True Food Kitchen, Red O, Cucina Enoteca and Telefèric Barcelona. The format placed the centre’s restaurants alongside its fashion retailers in the festival programme.
Sushi Roku’s Newport Beach interior, shown in the restaurant’s official location gallery. Venue image, not an event photograph.
Friday Paired Fashion With Food and Drink
Friday evening’s In the Mix: Fashion is the Main Dish brought runway presentations to the Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s Courtyard on October 16. Participating brands included St. John, Alice + Olivia, L’Agence, Varley, Todd Snyder, Arc’teryx and Monica Vinader, putting womenswear, menswear, outdoor apparel and jewelry within the same evening programme. The event ran from 6 to 8 p.m., pairing the fashion presentation with an interactive cocktail masterclass and food and drink participation from Rémy Cointreau, Telefèric Barcelona, Cucina Enoteca and Levain Bakery. Tickets benefited CASA OC.
Friday’s wider schedule also included a Coastal Collection pop-up on the Macy’s Lawn. Across those formats, established retailers and smaller participating businesses had different ways to take part, from product demonstrations to a shared evening presentation.
Saturday Connected Film, Personal Style and Design
Screenwriter and director Aaron Sorkin received the Newport Beach Film Festival’s Maverick Award on October 17, following a live Awards Chatter conversation moderated by The Hollywood Reporter’s executive editor Scott Feinberg. Sorkin, whose screenplays include The Social Network, was one of the weekend’s two Awards Chatter honorees. Actress and podcaster Jamie Chung’s fashion keynote, moderated by journalist Lindzi Scharf, brought personal style, motherhood and current projects into the day’s conversations.
Ten-year-old designer Max Alexander appeared with the West Coast premiere of Couture to the Max. The documentary followed his work toward a new collection, adding a developing designer’s perspective to a programme otherwise drawing on established names in entertainment and fashion. The screening programme also included a Q&A with Alexander and the film’s director, Dori Berinstein.
Three-time Emmy Award-winning television host and LadyGang co-creator Keltie Knight’s author talk, moderated by podcast host and former The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Crystal Kung Minkoff, continued the programme into the evening. Together, the keynote, film presentation and author conversation gave Saturday several distinct formats, rather than treating celebrity appearances as a single event.
Knight’s appearance accompanied the rollout of The F*ck Them Theory, her forthcoming book blending memoir and self-help. Blackstone Publishing lists the hardcover release for November 24, 2026.
On October 17, from 2 to 4 p.m., StyleWeekOC’s shopping parties extended the programme into participating Fashion Island stores, pairing shopping with hands-on activities and event-only offerings. Rails offered live fashion illustration, L’Agence hosted a fresh flower bar, Varley featured perfume making, and Vince offered personalized leather keychains. Alice + Olivia added lip-gloss charms, while Monica Vinader brought a claw machine with prizes. The wider lineup included American Vintage’s lemonade cart and gifts with purchase at FARM Rio and Jones Road. Hill House Home also participated, according to the Fashion Island team. The brand’s Fashion Island store is now open, the centre’s team confirmed. Together, the activities gave retailers a direct role in the weekend programme, with visitors able to move between the stage conversations, screenings and individual brand experiences.
Sunday Extended the Conversation
Actress Emmy Rossum was the festival’s Outstanding Performance in Television Award honoree on October 18. She appeared for another Awards Chatter conversation moderated by Feinberg, with the official programme placing the award presentation immediately after the recording. Her appearance extended the live interview series beyond Saturday.
Sunday’s official schedule also featured On the Scent, a Guerlain fragrance masterclass at Neiman Marcus with global ambassador Dawn Parton, plus engraving and bottle painting. A Coastal Collection pop-up continued the retail activity, while Armani and the Birth of Italian Fashion was programmed at THE LOT, linking the closing day back to the relationship between fashion and film.
Retailers Participated Across the Centre
StyleWeekOC’s mix of department-store programming, boutique activations, dining and film made the centre itself part of the event format. Visitors could move between a stage conversation, a retailer-led experience and a restaurant within the same destination. The programme illustrates how a shopping centre can give existing tenants a role in cultural events while introducing new reasons to visit.
Produced in partnership with Fashion Island. Travel and accommodations were provided.
