Swagger and spectacle: A look back at who and what is considered stylish in 2025

Rumi’s purple braid is one of the hottest trends this year, not only on social media, but also for Halloween and costume parties. Photo: Handout

This year, it was noted how those included reflected a definition of stylish that was looser than the term’s conventional meaning – equal parts style and “ish”.

While style is most obviously conveyed through clothes, accessories and haircuts, can’t it also come across in a distinctive swagger, a gesture that takes on a life of its own?

Can’t memorable style be silly as well as serious?

Can’t it be about how someone influences what people chatter about as much as what they wear?

The people on this list, some of whom aren’t people, make the argument that the answer to all of those questions is yes.

Over the year, they all made us ponder, debate and even question the meaning of self-expression.

Don’t agree with everyone (or thing) included? Good. That’s the whole point. Style, of course, is also subjective.

ASAP Rocky, the rapper-slash-actor had a year of stylish moments – attending the Met Gala as a co-chair in attire of his own design; wearing Miu Miu and Saint Laurent to the Cannes Film Festival; wearing more Saint Laurent, along with Gucci, to his criminal trial in Los Angeles (where he was acquitted).

It culminated with his being named a fashion icon by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and a new face of Chanel.

When it comes to Sabrina Carpenter, on and off stages, like those of her "Short n Sweet" tour and Saturday Night Live, sees the pop star stepping out in a number of buttery yellow garments, becoming an unofficial ambassador for a colour that was hard to escape this year.

Read more: Decades on from Hallyu’s rise, where does K-fashion stand now?

Newbie girl group Katseye makes waves in Gap’s Autumn/Winter denim campaign. Photo: Instagram/GapThanks to Rumi, one-third of the fictional girl group Huntr/x in KPop Demon Hunters, purple braids became a must-have hairstyle for many fans (especially for Halloween).

“The West Village Girl”, an archetype coined online, has a uniform that typically involves light-wash jeans, a white baby tee and sneakers – and, as New York magazine reported, she has infiltrated and become a new face of one of Manhattan’s most popular enclaves.

Socialite Becca Bloom, born Rebecca Ma, who built an online audience through unabashed displays of wealth, had an August wedding in Italy that brought her from TikTok feeds to the pages of Vogue.

Actresses Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall and Chase Infiniti brought together by roles in One Battle After Another, put forth the image of a glamorous trinity by combining their star power in appearances on red carpets and off.

With a look that has drawn comparison to Kurt Cobain’s, and a sound that has been likened to that of Tom Waits, the 23-year-old solo artist and frontman of the band Geese, Cameron Winter, broke out as a rising rock star of Generation Z.

Roles in buzzy shows like Dying For Sex on FX and Hacks on HBO Max (for which she received an Emmy nomination) introduced comedian, Robby Hoffman – and her wardrobe of cool menswear – to new audiences.

There are less sensational depictions of Texan housewives, but Margo Banks (played by Malin Akerman) and Sophie O’Neil (played by Brittany Snow) in Hunting Wives possessed a mixture of camp, charm and Western clothes that helped a soapy Netflix show become a smash hit.

In the past months, the musical artiste, Bad Bunny has flexed his cultural muscle with a sold-out run of 30 shows in Puerto Rico and by being named as the headliner of the next Super Bowl halftime show.

He has showcased his sartorial range by dressing up in Prada at the Met Gala, dressing casually in street wear at his concerts and dressing only in underwear on a billboard.

The discourse about the Generation Z stars of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Christopher Briney, Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno and their characters’ love triangle, reached a fever pitch as the Amazon Prime show ended its third and final season in September.

Anyone who thought the chatter would die down was quickly corrected: The day the series finale was released, a film adaptation was announced.

Long braids, Afros, corseted Schiaparelli gowns, Thom Browne bras and briefs – rapper Doechii’s aesthetic incorporated it all, turning heads on stages, red carpets and anywhere else she went.

In her first year in office, Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico has drawn attention to the country’s Indigenous fashion by wearing embroidered clothing and cracking down on big brands that knock off local artisans.

After starring in a Autumn/Winter denim campaign for Gap (which was overshadowed by the fallout from another jeans campaign), the year-old girl group Katseye, received two Grammy Award nominations, including for "Best New Artiste".

On her album Lux, the avant-garde pop singer Rosalia featured a symphony of languages by singing songs in 13 different tongues.

In the music video for one of those songs, Berghain, she captivatingly depicted the metaphor that life is a symphony by making coffee, ironing and riding a bus with the accompaniment of a full orchestra.

At Paris Fashion Week this year, countless eyes were on Matthieu Blazy, who was showing the first collection he had designed for Chanel.

Largely seen as a triumph, the show ended with him joyfully hugging Awar Odhiang, the model who closed it – a moment as indelible as any ensemble seen on the runway.

Some may say that the choice to wear a (replica) baby grand piano to the Met Gala was a stunt, not style. That doesn’t change the fact that the ensemble of musical artist Andre 3000 was one of the most original seen at the event.

A simple black slip became an iconic look for the former Pussycat Doll turned Broadway actress Nicole Scherzinger, who took home a Tony Award for her performance in Sunset Boulevard.

Read more: When red carpet fashion becomes clickbait, nothing is too bare or absurd

Shah Rukh Khan, known by his army of fans simply as SRK, Bollywood’s biggest star and one of the world’s most famous actors brought the Met Gala into his orbit as a first-time guest (he wore a design by Sabyasachi Mukherjee).

The model and estranged daughter of Elon Musk, Vivian Wilson, was a breakout face of New York Fashion Week, walking in shows for Prabal Gurung, Alexis Bittar and Dauphinette, which she opened with a shriek on the runway.

She also made herself heard in a widely circulated interview with Teen Vogue in March.

The wildly popular Labubus popped up seemingly everywhere, including at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But no Labubus, fake or real, had quite the same sparkling presence as the bejewelled versions that tennis star Naomi Osaka sported at the US Open.

Made by artist Kerin Rose Gold, they included John McEnglow, a creature outfitted in a glittery ruby sweat band.

The rapper Kendrick Lamar’s imprint on the year in style? Super Bowl bell-bottoms.

Since the start of president Donald Trump’s second term in January, first lady Melania Trump has made a sort of habit of using dramatic face-shielding hats to make statements, fashion and otherwise.

Cardi B was another rapper who stood out in court this year, attending her civil assault trial in Los Angeles (where she was found not liable) in designer suits – fringed Giambattista Valli, white Jacquemus – and wigs that drew lawyers’ attention.

And Just Like That, after three seasons, the Sex And The City spinoff on HBO Max concluded in August.

The show may be over, but the expansive, expensive and sometimes egregious outfits worn by Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) over the years will most likely live on.

After convincingly dressing the parts of Bob Dylan and New York Knicks superfan, and then shaving his head to much fanfare, actor Timothee Chalamet started a new fashion craze in the form of merch for his latest film, Marty Supreme, which included windbreaker jackets worn by Kylie Jenner and other tastemakers. – ©2025 The New York Times Company