Publishing is full of rankings, from power lists to best-dressed lists to under-40 lists. The CULT100 is different. There is just one criterion for inclusion—but it’s a high bar.

To qualify, a candidate must be actively shaping and changing our culture in real time. The people on this list represent five generations and hail from the worlds of food, publishing, art, fashion, activism, and entertainment. To put this group together, CULTURED‘s editors leveraged the full strength of our network, tapping artists, writers, and cultural leaders to tell us who they look to when they want to feel challenged, hopeful, and inspired.

Some members of the CULT100 are household names; others have been working behind the scenes to make possible the cultural encounters that stop us in our tracks. In a time of binary thinking, the creators featured in this year’s list are embracing contradiction, bouncing willfully between disciplines, and refusing to take no for an answer. They have guts, vision, and a potent cocktail of realism and optimism. None of them is shying away from the anxiety of our moment. Instead, they are thinking big, sharing generously, and embodying courage. The good news is, their work makes us all a little bit braver, too.

Prev
LUCY SANTE
 Next
ROSE BYRNE
KYLE SMITH
Photography by KYLE SMITH

KYLE SMITH

NFL FASHION EDITOR

Football fans care about fashion—or so the NFL’s first fashion editor has proven. Next time you see a linebacker wearing a look straight off the runway, you’ll know who made it happen.

WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT? Wondering whether my clients are going to wear the outfit we chose or go completely off the rails. But that’s what I love about athletes—they do whatever they want.

WHAT’S COMING UP FOR YOU IN 2025? My sister’s high-school graduation.

WHAT’S ONE BOOK, WORK OF ART, OR FILM THAT GOT YOU THROUGH AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE? Charlie’s Angels, 2000.

"People often think I’m chronically online, but I’m whatever the opposite of that is."

WHAT’S SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT YOU? People often think I’m chronically online, but I’m whatever the opposite of that is. When I tell people this, they often follow up with “Then how do you find trends?” Diva, I go outside. I look at what’s happening in the world, I travel, I read, and then I find the links. Fashion is everywhere for those with eyes to see it.

WHO DO YOU CALL THE MOST? My best friend [redacted] who works at the Pentagon. She only wears Prada to work, which is how I know she’s very important, but also good at her job.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO CULTURE? Joe Burrow in a backless suit.

Next
LUCY SANTE
 Next
ROSE BYRNE