In introducing the first version of this now annual list, 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 or even the colorful swirl of a smoothie? 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 67 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. — Madison Malone Kircher
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.
Sabrina Carpenter
On and off stages, like those of her Short n’ Sweet tour and “Saturday Night Live,” the pop star stepped out in a number of buttery yellow garments, becoming an unofficial ambassador for a color that was hard to escape this year.
Shohei Ohtani
As the Los Angeles Dodgers star racked up runs that helped his team win a second consecutive World Series — and helped him win his fourth M.V.P. award — he turned a hand gesture originally featured in a Japanese cosmetics commercial into something of a craze.
The West Village Girl
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.
Alexander Skarsgard
In appearances promoting the gay biker film “Pillion,” the actor practiced method dressing in ensembles involving short shorts, halter tops and thigh-high leather boots.
Becca Bloom
The influencer 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. The affair had all the luxury of another couple’s summer nuptials in Italy, but was a little more quiet.
Carlos Alcaraz
After a haircut gone wrong, the tennis star entered this year’s U.S. Open with a shaved head. He left it as the men’s singles champion — a victory he commemorated by going platinum blond.
Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall and Chase Infiniti
The actresses, 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.
Tyrese Haliburton
One knit, two knit, three knit, four: The Indiana Pacers guard’s off-court wardrobe of sweaters has showcased an appreciation for color, which was also reflected in the pastels of his first signature basketball shoe, released by Puma this fall.
Cameron Winter
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 broke out as a rising rock star of Generation Z.
Robby Hoffman
Roles in buzzy shows like “Dying for Sex” on FX and “Hacks” on HBO Max (for which she received an Emmy nomination) introduced the comedian — and her wardrobe of cool men’s wear — to new audiences.
‘Sally’
Few people this year contained as many multitudes as the titular character in Role Model’s song “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out,” who was portrayed onstage (and in widely viewed clips) by such celebrities as Charli XCX, Natalie Portman, Kate Hudson and Al Roker.
Margo Banks and Sophie O’Neil in ‘Hunting Wives’
There are less sensational depictions of Texan housewives, but Margo (played by Malin Akerman) and Sophie (played by Brittany Snow) possessed a mixture of camp, charm and Western clothes that helped a soapy Netflix show become a smash hit.
Bad Bunny
In the past months, the musical artist 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.
Christopher Briney, Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno
The discourse about the Gen-Z stars of “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” 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.
Doechii
Long braids, Afros, corseted Schiaparelli gowns, Thom Browne bras and briefs — the rapper’s aesthetic incorporated it all, turning heads on stages, red carpets and anywhere else she went.
Claudia Sheinbaum
In her first year in office, 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.
Noah Wyle
At the Emmy Awards, the actor’s life converged with that of Dr. Michael Robinavitch, his character on the HBO show “The Pitt,” through fashion: He wore a tuxedo from Figs, a brand known for making medical scrubs.
Katseye
After starring in a fall denim campaign for Gap (which was overshadowed by the fallout from another jeans campaign), the year-old girl group received two Grammy Award nominations, including for best new artist.
Cole Escola
The actor, writer and madcap medley singer capped off a memorable portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” by collecting a Tony Award in a Wiederhoeft gown that paid homage to the fashion of another Broadway icon, Bernadette Peters.
Eustace Tilley
The New Yorker turned 100 in February, making its mascot the rare centenarian that looks almost exactly the same now as they did in 1925.
Rosalía
On her album “Lux,” the avant-garde pop singer 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.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
In September, the Oklahoma City Thunder guard, one of the N.B.A.’s best-dressed athletes and its current most valuable player, furthered his fashionable image with the release of his first signature shoe, a collaboration with Converse.
John ‘Jack’ Trotter in ‘The Gilded Age’
Jack (played by Ben Ahlers) started the latest season of the HBO period drama as a lowly footman. He ended it as a well-heeled inventor with a taste for finer things, which he developed under the tutelage of an urbane buddy — a scenario that brought to mind the plot of the play “Pygmalion,” but with a same-sex twist.
Jennifer Lawrence
Dark sunglasses thankfully did not prevent the actress from going unnoticed by paparazzi on the streets, where her taste for leopard coats, oversize T-shirts and other casual-chic clothes was on full display.
Matthieu Blazy and Awar Odhiang
At Paris Fashion Week this fall, countless eyes were on Mr. Blazy, who was showing the first collection he had designed for Chanel. Largely seen as a triumph, the show ended with him joyfully hugging Ms. Odhiang, the model who closed it — a moment as indelible as any ensemble seen on the runway.
Erewhon Collaboration Smoothie
One thing that Kacey Musgraves, Kali Uchis, Heidi Klum and the Smashing Pumpkins have in common? All lent their names to an Erewhon smoothie in 2025, which might in time be remembered as the year that the Los Angeles grocer’s beverage collaborations jumped the shark.
Walton Goggins
A role in the third season of the HBO show “The White Lotus” put the actor in the spotlight. After the show ended, his appearance on a cover of Cultured magazine sitting spread eagle in a yellow Speedo kept him there, and contributed to a surge in interest in the skimpy swimwear.
Pope Leo XIV
Robert Francis Prevost, a Chicago native, forever altered the image of the papacy when he became the first American pope in May. Soon after, he altered the office’s image again by wearing a Chicago White Sox hat (he’s a big fan) with his papal garments.
Megan Stalter
The comedian and “Hacks” actress had a star turn this summer as the lead of the Netflix show “Too Much.” In appearances promoting it, she wore playful and slightly sardonic attire — like a tube top with her face on it and a Rapunzel-esque wig — that was just over-the-top enough to make viewers wonder if she was portraying yet another character.
André 3000
Some may say that the musical artist’s choice to wear a (replica) baby grand piano to the Met Gala was a stunt, not style. That doesn’t change the fact that his ensemble was one of the most original seen at the event.
Nicole Scherzinger
A simple black slip became an iconic look for the former Pussycat Doll turned Broadway actress, who took home a Tony Award for her lingerie-clad performance in “Sunset Boulevard.”
Aunt Gladys in ‘Weapons’
A witch who favored oversize glasses, smudgy lipstick and retro leisure wear, Aunt Gladys (played by Amy Madigan) was refreshingly nothing like Glinda or Elphaba.
Paige Bueckers
Within weeks of her helping the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team to clinch an N.C.A.A. championship in April, the guard was the No. 1 pick at the 2025 W.N.B.A. draft (she was selected by the Dallas Wings). But her stardom has extended far beyond the court, thanks to an effervescent “rizz,” or charisma, that comes through in her easy tailored clothes and many TikTok videos.
Elijah ‘Smoke’ Moore and Elias ‘Stack’ Moore in ‘Sinners’
Choosing clothes is apparently something of a family affair for the dandy twins (played by Michael B. Jordan): According to Ryan Coogler, the director of “Sinners,” Stack is a stylist of sorts for Smoke.
Vivian Wilson
The model and estranged daughter of Elon Musk was a breakout face of New York Fashion Week this fall, 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 that was published in March.
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.)
Amelia Dimoldenberg
Fried chicken has taken the comedian far in the 10 years since she started her YouTube show, “Chicken Shop Date.” Not only did she appear on the Oscars red carpet (for the second consecutive year), but she also partnered with Formula 1 on a new YouTube show, “Passenger Princess,” which debuted in October.
Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers
With the inaugural broadcast of their Las Culturistas Culture Awards on Bravo in August, the friends, actors and “Las Culturistas” podcast hosts broke the traditional mold of televised award shows.
Naomi Osaka’s Bedazzled Labubus
The wildly popular toy 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 bejeweled versions that the tennis star sported at the U.S. Open. Made by the artist Kerin Rose Gold, they included John McEnglow, a creature outfitted in a glittery ruby sweat band.
Kendrick Lamar
The rapper’s imprint on the year in style? Super Bowl bell bottoms.
Graydon Carter, Barry Diller and Keith McNally
Call them the “manosphere of a certain age”: The 76-year-old editor, 83-year-old mogul and 74-year-old restaurateur all published memoirs that brought them, and the bygone universes they once mastered over, back into the limelight.
Cardi B
She 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.
Rayyan Arkan Dikha
In footage viewed by millions online, the Indonesian preteen introduced the world to the concept of “aura farming” — and to his enviable dance moves performed atop the bow of a swiftly moving boat.
Melania Trump
Since the start of President Trump’s second term in January, the first lady has made a sort of habit of using dramatic face-shielding hats to make statements, fashion and otherwise.
Liam and Noel Gallagher
Their Oasis reunion tour triggered a wave of 1990s nostalgia — and a resurgence of Adidas Sambas, bucket hats and other apparel associated with the musician brothers.
Carrie Bradshaw in ‘And Just Like That …’
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 (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) over the years will most likely live on.
Benson Boone
The pop star and prolific back-flipper wormed his way into countless lives through hit songs like “Mystical Magical”; through clothes like the spangly blue jumpsuit he wore to the Grammys (which Mark Zuckerberg borrowed afterward); and through a namesake Crumbl cookie.
Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux
Otherwise known as “the Louvre detective,” the French teenager with a taste for dapper men’s wear became an online sensation after being photographed next to police officers outside the museum in the wake of the recent jewel heist.
Rumi in ‘KPop Demon Hunters’
Thanks to Rumi, one third of the fictional girl group Huntr/x, purple braids became a must-have hairstyle for many “Demon Hunters” fans (especially for Halloween).
Timothée Chalamet
After convincingly dressing the parts of Bob Dylan and New York Knicks superfan, and then shaving his head to much fanfare, the actor 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.
Produced by Chevaz Clarke-Williams, Eli Cohen, Christy Harmon, Madison Malone Kircher and Anthony Rotunno.
The post The 67 Most Stylish People of 2025 appeared first on New York Times.
