Just over a month after thousands of Los Angeles residents lost their homes in the Palisades and Altadena wildfires, the wider city has gotten back into the swing of events, just in time for the pinnacle of awards season — The Academy Awards, which are set for Sunday.

This past weekend, art fair Frieze LA was packed with visitors, while schedules have filled with parties and dinners, perhaps even more so as postponed events were fit into the last remaining time slots at venues across the city. Pre-Oscar brand events including red-carpet facialist appointments and gifting suites are in full swing. A pop-up for Hailey Bieber’s brand Rhode featured lines stretched down Melrose Avenue.

But everywhere one looks, there are also signs of a city still reeling from an apocalyptic January. The size of Frieze parties were significantly culled compared to years prior, and on-site activations from fashion and beauty brands were nonexistent, apart from a wall acknowledging fashion brand Stone Island’s sponsorship of the fair’s Focus section for emerging galleries. It was a stark departure from previous years, where labels like Dr. Barbara Sturm and Matchesfashion operated big booths. Most events included a donation component for fire relief; the fair also featured multiple 2025 works by painters who had lost their entire studios and produced new works in time for the fair. Party conversations veered toward who lost their homes.

“A lot of the changes are really around philanthropic efforts that we’ve made or we’re partnering with different organizations on,” said Christine Messineo, Frieze’s Americas director. “That felt really important to show support for the community that was most affected.”

The Show Must Go On

Even as the fires died down in late January, Los Angeles remained a city at a standstill.

Signs of life began to return with the Grammy Awards, which kept their Feb. 2 date. Selena Gomez and Jennifer Anniston hosted a joint party for their brands Rare Beauty and LolaVie on Feb. 5. The first weeks of February still remained relatively uneventful – fragrance brand Kayali moved a scheduled Feb. 19 LA event to San Francisco, while a wellness day sponsored by several brands including Reflekt Skincare at Malibu luxury resort Calamigos Guest Ranch was rescheduled from Feb. 13 to 20 due to landslide risks.

But parties and activations have especially picked up in the last week. Frieze’s normally packed list of parties was active but more muted — its annual pre-fair party at the Getty Villa was moved this year to fashion designer Rosetta Getty’s home with a halved guest list, while Stone Island opted to host a “low-key” dinner for artists and gallerists that was smaller than the the size of the one it held for its London Frieze event in October 2024. Brand events were limited to outside the fair — Ilia Beauty collaborated with artist Gustaf Westman for an artsy takeover of Café Telegrama in Melrose Hill to promote its new eyeshadows.

“Once it became clear that the city wanted to be resilient and that ultimately these kinds of activities create important productivity for the city, we of course, were more than happy to proceed with the partnership,” said Stone Island CEO Robert Triefus. “Everyone is very aware that this is still a city that is suffering from the after effects of terrifying circumstances, and one that has caused a huge amount of damage. Everyone is very respectful of that, and consequently they’re taking the decisions that need to be taken to be aligned with that sense.”

Beauty brands have also been flocking to LA ahead of the Oscars — Spanish skincare brand Natura Bissé brought back its annual pre-Oscar event, renting out a Beverly Hills mansion to host appointments for celebrities, influencers and beauty professionals to get its signature diamond facial (conducted on a pad made of crystals in a giant inflatable bubble with filtered air) reported to be loved by celebrities like Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow. Others doing Oscar beauty events include 111 Skin, Oribe, Charlotte Tilbury and IS Clinical, which prides itself on its “Fire and Ice” red-carpet-oriented celebrity facial.

Natura Bissé senior VP Joaquin Serra said that while they waited to decide whether or not it was appropriate to move forward, “as soon as we had the option to do the event, we said, ‘Let’s go.’”

Back to Business

Brands getting back into the swing of events are emphasising the importance of keeping LA’s economy going as the fires hit after an already tumultuous year for the film industry.

A Youth to the People pop-up at shopping center Platform LA celebrating the 10th anniversary of its cult Superfood Cleanser opened on Feb. 21 after being delayed due to the fires. The time slot for the pop-up was one of the only ones left for two months.

“People need to work,” said Madeline Davis, the director of advocacy and influence at Youth to the People. “Be mindful, you can’t go back too fast, but also, everybody needs to go back.”

The effects of the fires were omnipresent at cocktail parties, dinners and pop-ups happening throughout the city as most were held with a fire-relief donation component. For instance, during an influencer dinner cosmetics label Too Faced hosted on Feb. 25 for a collaboration with stylist turned influencer and media founder Rachel Zoe, the brand’s head of global makeup Elyse Reneau announced a Red Cross donation.

Most organizers are confident in a rebound for the city.

“LA will keep coming back, in a way, it’s built on events,” said Greg Gonzalez, the co-founder of Youth to the People.