Fashion in 2025 wasn’t always about trends—it was often about stakes. Clothes became proxies for power, dissent, survival, seduction, and spectacle (as seen above with the bright orange hue synonymous with the Marty Supreme press tour), worn in courtrooms and campaign headquarters, in transit and in outer space. This year’s most memorable looks didn’t just photograph well; they meant something—for better or worse. But here, we compiled the moments when style most vividly crossed over from adornment into authority.

Rama Duwaji Dresses for History

The Texas-born artist and wife of New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Rama Duwaji, developed her own audience during her husband’s historic campaign. At Mamdani’s Election Night party, in front of a victorious crowd of supporters, she wore a black top by Zeid Hijazi, a London-based Palestinian designer, paired with a skirt by Ulla Johnson, a New York Fashion staple—quietly underscoring her newfound influence with a contemporary edge.

Cynthia Erivo Soars in Schiaparelli

The Wicked star turned countless heads alongside co-star Ariana Grande during the film’s endless press tour. At the LACMA Art+Film Gala, she continued to do so with styling by Jason Bolden in Schiaparelli, emerging in one of the year’s most enduring red carpet ensembles. Daniel Roseberry’s gown, adorned with both pearls and intricate embroidery, was eerie, arresting, and a can’t-miss look.

Michelle Obama Pulls The Look

Michelle Obama continues to push the envelope of (former) first lady refinement with fashion-forward feats. At an early stop for her new book, The Look, featuring a podcast taping with Tracee Ellis Ross, Obama wore an asymmetrical look from Loewe’s Spring 2026 collection. The frock offered an embrace of new creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, mere months after their tenure began.

Jacob Elordi Takes Flight

The strapping movie star continues to revive the once-dying canon of iconic airport style. Treating the genre almost scientifically, the actor favored a precise uniform this year: a white T-shirt, dark trousers, black sunglasses, and a Bottega Veneta carry-on. His various looks and their subsequent buzz signal a deepening connection between leading men and the language of style–which has the power to activate an entirely new legion of fans.

Pedro Pascal Is for the Dolls

Weeks after Donald Trump began advancing a broad agenda against the trans community, designer Conner Ives responded with a deceptively simple act of solidarity: a white T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Protect the Dolls,” debuted at his Fall/Winter 2025 show. Since worn by Troye Sivan, Addison Rae, and Pascal, the shirt has become a visible gesture of dissent against the administration’s stance, as well as an effective fundraising vehicle for the nonprofit Trans Lifeline.

Mikey Madison’s Cinderella Story

Anora was an unlikely critical and commercial sensation—a veritable fairytale moment. On Hollywood’s biggest night, lead Mikey Madison wore a couture pink satin dress with a black velvet bodice by Dior, inspired by their 1956 “Bal à Paris” collection, with stylist Jamie Mizrahi playing the gown against a diamond necklace by Tiffany & Co. From the film’s meteoric rise to Madison’s thrust into the spotlight, the gown capped off an energizing season for the newly-minted star.

A Versace Night Out with Kylie Jenner

Where were you when Kylie Jenner wore a backless vintage chainmail dress from Versace’s spring 1999 collection to the Golden Globes? In a shimmering ripple of metallic sheets, the star and Timothée Chalamet (in Haider Ackermann), made their appearance at the 2025 ceremony. The choice was the latest in a legacy of silver peacocking which last saw Elizabeth Hurley in a similar look at the 1999 CFDA Awards.

Seeing Double with Julia Roberts and Amanda Seyfried

At the 2025 Venice Film Festival, Julia Roberts and Amanda Seyfried wore the same Versace look by former creative director Dario Vitale. The simple get-up—a striped button-down, navy blazer, and dark jeans—was widely circulated as one of the first public snapshots of Vitale’s Versace, before Seyfried dove into Roberts’ Instagram comments to ask for it next! 

Carla Bruni’s Devil-May-Care Moment

Just four days after her husband—former Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy—was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy, Bruni showed up to (where else?) the Saint Laurent show for Spring/Summer 2026. Dressed by the Maison for the event, Bruni donned a sumptuous fur, yellow silk dress, dark shades, and a playfully defiant attitude. 

Kim Kardashian Doesn’t Object to Diamonds

With a 52.17-carat diamond necklace draped around her neck, Kim Kardashian walked into a Parisian courtroom to face the men who robbed her hotel room (and its assortment of jewels) almost a decade before. The spectacle, like all things Kardashian does, was part taunt to the eventually-convicted burglars—as she said publicly—and part performance for the Internet’s roving legion of eyeballs. 

Bella’s Blonde Debut in Cannes

Bella Hadid returned to the croisette for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival not only in a sweeping Saint Laurent gown and Chopard emerald earrings, but with an unmistakable sense of occasion. Debuting a new shade of blonde hair, the model likely generated as much buzz as many of the attending movie stars (without a nomination to her name). Hadid moved steadily past throngs of fans and a barrage of camera flashes, projecting a cool, closely-held authority—proof that careful flourishes can truly define one’s power.

Mark Ronson Gets Cozy with the CFDA

Haider Ackermann’s arrival at Tom Ford was widely-lauded as one of the more consequential creative director appointments of the year. It was only fitting then, that musician and producer Mark Ronson, fresh off of the launch of his new book Night People, should align with the designer for the CFDA Awards. Guided by fashion tastemaker and stylist Nicky Campbell, Ronson arrived in a blue Tom Ford dressing gown, trading the club-kid image of his foundation with that of a confident elder statesman of culture.

The Portrait of… Lilly Allen

Musician Lilly Allen’s West End Girl marked a professional and personal reset for the British star. With album art painted by Spanish artist Nieves González, the portrait features a soft (almost mournful) gaze and a rather whimsical, polka-dot puffer jacket. The image perfectly encapsulates the paradoxes of the album itself: disappointment and soft emotion, but also defiance, humor, and self-possession.

Boots Out with Alexander Skarsgård

Thanks to stylist Harry Lambert, Alexander Skarsgård has emerged as a red carpet mainstay to watch. While promoting his film Pillion, in all of its queer, leather-forward loucheness, the actor leaned decisively into fetishwear, taking inspiration from Tom of Finland and Robert Mapplethorpe in a range of public appearances. The zenith? CULTURED nominates a pair of thigh-high Saint Laurent boots, designed by creative director Anthony Vaccarello, which set fans ablaze after their memorable traipse down the carpet.

Bianca Censori Bares All

The musician Ye has a reputation, among other things, for being at best Pygmalion and at worst Svengali for the women in his life. When Ye and wife Bianca Censori appeared at the Grammy’s—uninvited—the pair shocked cameras when she dropped a fur coat to reveal her completely nude body under a skin-tone sheath. The ensuing conversation around the look was fiercely divisive, but nonetheless memorable. 

A Couture Statement for Lana Del Rey 

Once mocked for her affectations and nostalgic longings, Lana Del Rey has emerged as an artist quite secure in her vision. On the first Monday in May for the 2025 Met Gala, Del Rey arrived on the Met steps in Valentino couture, fully in command of her image. The look was a triumphant indulgence in glamour—and a fitting tribute to the evening’s theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.

Monse Takes Space

On April 15, the world watched the rather eyebrow-raising spectacle of notable women (including Lauren Sanchez,  Katy Perry, and Gayle King) traveling, for 10 minutes, to space. The expedition launched heated online discourse and a digital Elle cover. There was, however, one clear highlight: the royal-blue space suits by Monse. Designed by Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim of Monse, the uniforms fused form and function with the brand’s signature elegance. In doing so, they rendered the collective forever memorable, for more reasons than one.

Bhavitha Mandava Takes the Subway by Storm

At Chanel’s December Métiers d’Art show staged in New York’s Bowery subway station, a new modeling star emerged. Bhavitha Mandava—a recent NYU graduate—who was discovered, fittingly, on a train not unlike the one she walked beside for the Parisian House. Her swaggering opening stride marked a historic moment for Indian representation on the runway, igniting immediate attention while embodying the undone freshness of Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel.

Kendrick Lamar’s Celine Spectacle

When musician Kendrick Lamar took the stage for the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show in February, audiences would have been warranted to expect personal statements, hit tracks, and the settling of old scores (cue the Drake x Kendrick Lamar beef of 2025). He delivered all of that, along with something more unexpected: a viral fashion moment. His custom varsity jacket by British designer Martine Rose drew immediate attention, but the real star was his pair of Celine bell-bottom jeans. The “Marco” style, priced at $1,200 a pair, sold out at a remarkable pace after performance.

Carlos Alcaraz Goes Pink

Tennis star Carlos Alcaraz and rival player Jannik Sinner were at the center of one of the year’s most watched athletic rivalries. The US Open received a jolt of sartorial buzz when Alcaraz arrived to play Sinner with buzzed hair and a bubblegum-pink tank top. The look (paired, of course, with his sun-bronzed skin, rippled form, and cheeky smile) sent the Internet swooning and recast the Spanish pro as a style and sex symbol.