Inside GQ’s Nineties-Style Blowout at Chateau Marmont

GQ’s annual Men of the Year bash stormed back onto the Los Angeles scene on Thursday night—quite literally, as the first drops of an incoming downpour began to sprinkle on Sunset Boulevard. But even the threat of a deluge couldn’t dampen the mood. With this year marking the 30th anniversary of the celebration, the publication leaned fully into the throwback with the theme: party like it’s 1995.

To mark the milestone, GQ took over the entire first floor of the Chateau Marmont, transforming the Hollywood haunt into a velvet-roped, standing-room-only party. On Thursday evening, global editorial director Will Welch was joined by a powerhouse roster of co-hosts and Men of the Year cover stars including Stephen Colbert, Sydney Sweeney, Seth Rogen, SZA, Oscar Isaac, Clipse, and Hailey Bieber and honorees Walton Goggins, Will Arnett, Haider Ackermann, Morgan Spector, Carrie Coon, and MJ Lenderman.

As guests trickled in, the Chateau took on a charged, slightly surreal energy—equal parts glamour, chaos, and perfectly-timed reunions. Alexander Skarsgård, in characteristically rogue fashion, ditched tradition—and trousers—opting instead for tailored shorts as he perched at the bar with Morgan Spector and Rebecca Hall. Outside, John C. Reilly, ever the iconoclast, sported a bowler hat, while Colbert and Rogen turned the terrace into their own late-night two-hander. Halle Bailey queued patiently for the photo booth, while Bieber—in whale tail panty-adorned Gucci—joined Kendall Jenner and Devon Lee Carlson in transforming the ladies’ room into a supermodel salon.

The room filled quickly with familiar faces from past and present: Paris Jackson, Regé-Jean Page, André 3000, Cara Delevingne, Olivia Rodrigo, Sombr, and Cai Xukun—whose fans clustered outside the hotel eagerly hoping for a sighting of the Chinese singer-songwriter. Nearby, Noah Baumbach, Leon Bridges, Kiernan Shipka, and Patrick Schwarzenegger drifted through the crowd with ease.

In true retro fashion, sustenance came courtesy of caviar bumps, martinis, and roaming trays stacked with mini grilled cheeses and bite-size sliders. And because no Hollywood party is complete without surprise performances, this night served up not one, but two. First a set by this year’s honoree MJ Lenderman followed by Pusha T setting off a full-room sing-along that shook the rafters.