Naomi Campbell
This would have been a Halloween costume in 2019. In 2020, it was what supermodels wore to journey by air. Noted germophobe Naomi Campbell was photographed in this hazmat swimsuit, with goggles, face masks and surgical gloves, on 11 March, months earlier than face masks had been commonplace in the UK. The response encapsulated the angst of these doomscrolling days, starting from celebration, for a second’s mild aid, to ire, at a time when so many medics had been in need of PPE (“They were acting like I was stealing supplies from the hospital … I got it on Amazon,” Campbell later stated). Since donated to the Fashion Museum in Bath, it’s actually an outfit for the historical past books. Hannah Marriott
Paapa Essiedu
As a brown man, I’ve by no means anticipated to see the approach I gown mirrored on TV exhibits. Sure, bits of clothes right here and there, however nothing that actually mirrors my wardrobe. So it was with my mouth in an “O” of shock that I took in Paapa Essiedu’s wardrobe as he performed Kwame in I May Destroy You. Some objects had been precise replicas of mine (striped brief-sleeved prime, caramel teddy bear jacket) and others (beanie hats, lengthy sleeved T-shirts) that had a familiarity. But greater than seeing myself mirrored in Kwame’s outfits was the undeniable fact that right here was a personality whose wardrobe felt much less costume and extra, together with the remainder of the present, brutally trustworthy and genuine. The gentle materials his character wore in early episodes gave solution to extra mature tones, akin to mustard and teal, as his character unravelled and at last matured. Priya Elan
Jay-Z
Around the time of his “I’m sorry I cheated on Beyoncé” album four:44, Jay-Z’s model did a 360-degree pivot. He effortlessly modified to suiting and shiny colors. His swap from streetwear image to older gentleman embraced the riskier finish of the model spectrum. In Beyoncé’s Black Is King movie, he wore polo necks, draped Dior fits, polo necks and assertion necklaces with no trace of midlife disaster. This was a rapper rising up in public with a dapper sense of maturity not often seen earlier than. My favorite little bit of this evolution was his hair. He grew out dreadlocks and the outcome was considered one of the greatest hair makeovers of the previous couple of years: relaxed locks with a slight nod to his hero, Jean-Michel Basquiat. It was symbolic of the ease he felt in this new model, which he completely owned. PE
Nigella Lawson
Nigella Lawson on Cook, Eat, Repeat. Photograph: Jay Brookes/BBC
Along with Strictly Come Dancing, the return of Nigella to our TV screens introduced a a lot-wanted dose of glamour into our properties, throughout what has been a protracted, darkish and terribly tedious autumn. Just like Strictly, Nigella is 2-components healthful radiance to at least one-half wink-to-digital camera mischief. Chez Nigella is a temple of books and fairy lights, and he or she dishes out her generously salted nuggets of knowledge in shiny copper measuring spoons, whereas carrying fitted sweaters worthy of 1950s pin-ups and speaking about Proust. What would we do with out her? Jess Cartner-Morley
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cooks whereas lecturing her viewers about politics. Photograph: AOC instagram
I may have gone for the fringed Loewe energy swimsuit, as seen in Vanity Fair. Or the many white jackets, razor-sharp shift clothes, crisp shirts, rose-gold spectacles, gold hoops, Stila’s liquid lipstick in Beso crimson and Gabriela Hearst teal fits tworn by the congresswoman and – let’s be trustworthy – future first socialist feminine president of the US. Instead, it was AOC’s snappy, presumably-however-most likely-not electioneering marketing campaign merch – and in explicit her “Tax the rich” sweatshirt, made by unionised staff in the US that did it for me [THAT WHAT?]. In a yr in which everybody from Nick Cave to Yuval Noah Harari introduced out merch, and the rich escaped lockdown by decamping to their second properties, this slogan stated all of it, for a reasonably affordable $58 (£42). Morwenna Ferrier
Robert Pattinson
Robert Pattinson on the cowl of US GQ. Photograph: Robert Pattinson/GQ US
Speaking personally, 2020 fashion was all about slob-core. Forget Dominic Cummings and his misbuttoned rose backyard linens, this yr’s poster boy was Robert Pattinson in his self-styled, self-photographed shoot for GQ journal. It was not the garments that did it for me – a “price on request” shirt by Dior Men? In 2020? – however the temper. Here was the summer time challenge of a males’s fashion journal and what did we’ve however the hottest star in Hollywood, cooped up (like us) in a rented flat with no backyard (like us), lengthy overdue a haircut (like us), consuming cornflakes and cheese. OK, the final bit wasn’t fairly us, however the poor man had solely a microwave handy. MF
Brad Pitt
Screengrab exhibiting Brad Pitt throughout a learn-by of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Photograph: Twitter
You would possibly assume the inclusion of a suntanned Brad Pitt in an previous inexperienced T-shirt is a doubtful objectification of his evergreen Californian appears to be like, however you’d be unsuitable. Time and once more, Pitt has proved himself a helpful participant on workforce 2020 by his capacity to make the feral-adjoining scruffiness that has defined this yr look … fairly sizzling. See right here: not having had a haircut since lockdown. And in the event you haven’t but performed a deep dive on Pitt volunteering in Los Angeles, in a masks and an previous checked shirt, then I direct you right here instantly. JCM
Princess Anne
Erin Doherty as Princess Anne. Photograph: Des Willie/AP
People-watching was not precisely a factor this yr, however TV-watching was, and lots of took model inspiration the place they might discover it. Thanks to The Crown, the obsession with Princess Diana’s wardrobe has reached such a fever pitch that I might say we must always get out extra, if solely it had been that easy. It’s depiction of Princess Anne, nonetheless, was the actual standout, layering checked shirts underneath olive-colored knits, a glance that spoke of no-nonsense chilly-climate walks, which was helpful. HM
Harry Styles
Harry Styles at the Brits. Photograph: JM Enternational/REX/Shutterstock
Harry Styles’s evolution from a Simon Cowell-farmed boyband money cow of pop to technology Z’s premier gender iconoclast is probably the most pleasing twist of 21st-century popular culture to this point. This yr, he has modified the guidelines of dressing up for males: why be hemmed in to the drained previous tropes of the tuxedo (for suave) or leather-based jacket (for rebels) if you could be each, in a pearl necklace and a reasonably lace shirt, as seen on Styles at the Brits? Or in a Gucci chiffon robe, on the cowl of Vogue? Last month, the V&A museum introduced that it had acquired for its everlasting assortment the JW Anderson patchwork cardigan that Styles made a TikTok sensation. Harry 1 Toxic Masculinity zero. JCM
Anna Wintour
With many staff caught at house this yr, connecting with colleagues through Zoom, solely their prime halves seen, sweatpant gross sales rocketed, with some manufacturers turning material as soon as destined for social gathering clothes into trousers with elasticated waistbands. In April, when the meticulously turned-out Anna Wintour – former pal of Karl “sweatpants are a sign of defeat” Lagerfeld – wore a pair, it was clear that even the professionally shiny had been on board, and sweatpants would grow to be the defining clothes merchandise of the pandemic. HM
