As the countdown continues for Sunday night's Oscars, our woman in LA, RTÉ Arts and Media Correspondent Evelyn O'Rourke, talks to Irish dress designer Caterina Coyne about finding the right red carpet look
Four days to go until the biggest stars in the world descend on Los Angeles for the 98th Oscars this Sunday night, and my head is still spinning with all the sights, sounds and ice cream on offer in LA.
The heat is rising, with the city preparing for 27 degrees today. It was 18 degrees yesterday, so the weather shockwave has had people talking.
For us here, myself and cameraman Brian Walsh, we started the day by heading into the Hollywood hills to meet LA-based Irish dress designer Caterina Coyne.
Caterina welcomed us into her home, which has great views that stretch right across the city.
Oscars 2026: Everything you need to know
As I stood on her balcony looking across at the famous Hollywood sign and the back of the Loews Hotel, home to the Dolby Theatre Oscar venue, it felt like I was looking at the opening of a Hollywood movie.
From spotting the iconic Hollywood sign, to the Griffith Park Observatory, which was made famous in Rebel Without a Cause and the dance sequence in La La Land, there are film connections everywhere.
Caterina said that LA was full of 'how am I here' moments when she first moved over.
Born in the UK, her family moved to Galway, and she grew up in Connemara.
She had excelled as an Irish dancer and joined the Riverdance cast at eighteen years of age, and hit the road, touring around the world with the show for many years.
In the later years of her dance career, Caterina pursued her passion for dress design and went on to set up her own label.
"I always wanted to do design, it was something I had always dreamed about but dancing took almost 20 years, so when I finished, I decided it was time to follow my dream of becoming a fashion designer," she said.
Caterina moved to LA with her husband Mark a few years ago and has hugely enjoyed designing dresses - from bridal wear to red carpet looks over the years for her clients in the city.
Two years ago, she landed a dream commission and designed the dress for An Cailín Ciúin's young actress Catherine Clinch, who played the lead role in the film.
Caterina explained that the key to success for a designer is knowing that they have "given their client a dress that makes them feel comfortable and happy".
In terms of fellow Irish woman and Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley, she said that the actress’s success has been so lovely to watch.
When asked about Ms Buckley's style on the Oscar campaign trail, Caterina said that "the Oscars is the most watched runway in the world, and everyone watches the nominees", adding that "all eyes will be on Jessie Buckley" and she hoped that she would wear a tribute to Northern Irish fashion designer Jonathan Anderson.
We discussed the various dresses that Jessie has worn and agreed that the Jonathan Anderson dress she wore for the Golden Globes and her dress for the Actor Awards, which was designed by Balenciaga, were particular highlights.
"I think Jessie has grown in confidence during award season," Caterina said, adding that "it's great to see her moving beyond her comfort zone."
We left Caterina and said goodbye to her beautiful young family and headed downtown and met up with Jenny Chan and Tiffany Hodder Freedman.
They are both partners of the team behind John Kelly and Andrew Freedman’s Oscar-nominated animated short film Retirement Plan.
I was meeting the two friends to discuss the challenge and (hopefully) fun of having to walk the red carpet and tackle one of the big LA questions - what do you wear on Oscar night?
We agreed that for most women, the challenge of turning up to the red carpet in a glamorous outfit was a daunting one.
Jenny told me that she was starting to feel the pressure when the nomination for Retirement Plan came through and she described how grateful she was when her friend Aisling Farinella, "an amazing stylist based in Temple Bar", offered to help her pull everything together.
She said that Aisling gave her "great confidence", adding that "anytime I felt like I wanted to pull back a bit, she'd just say, 'no, keep pushing, because you are going to be on the red carpet’.
"I'd never done anything like that" Jenny said. "I knew I needed a bit of a nudge to find an outfit that would work for me."
In the end, they chose a stunning silver sequin dress from acclaimed designer Simone Rocha and Jenny outlined how significant this was as they both share an Irish Chinese heritage.
She also described how proud she was of the handbag she would be bringing along to the Oscars as it would be "big enough to hold snacks, which is important as we have been warned that it's a long night."
Designed by Caoimhe Grant, Jenny described how she was so proud of wearing Irish design on the world's most famous red carpet, from 'head to ankle,"
Tiffany Holder Freedman said discussions about her dress started with the nomination.
"There was so many little messages and texts from friends going, ‘this is amazing news, but what are you going to wear?’ And so I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, I don't know. Do I rent? Do I buy? Do I what am I going to do?’"
She decided to send a message to designer Helen Cody,
"Helen was so good, and she had me down to her studio, and we went from there."
Tiffany’s dress is a beautiful cream-embellished short number which she says is a "a joy to wear". She is also borrowing earrings from jeweller Christopher Heltzel and says that she is grateful for all the support from Irish fashion.
For Tiffany and Jenny, the nomination represents a major milestone. "Myself and Andrew studied film together," Tiffany said. "And we used to joke about how one day we would get to the Oscars and now here we are. It's just so exciting and wonderful for John and himself."
I finally left the ladies laughing in their rooms as they planned ahead for their big red carpet debuts, and I hit the street for home, even more excited about the big Oscars night.
I also left with a promise from them that they would give me an exclusive wave from the red carpet for our TV coverage, so that is at least one job done for Oscars 2026.
The Oscars will be broadcast live on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player from 11pm.
RTÉ will also be airing the Oscars highlights on Monday, 16 March at 9:30 pm on RTÉ2.
