Taylor Swift's naked dress and Rihanna's modern maternity wear: 2022's top fashion moments
This was also the year Margot Robbie wore possibly her most daring red carpet look yet and Florence Pugh's see-through dress went viral.
Following a pause in red carpet events during the pandemic, the showbiz world returned with a vengeance in 2022. Celebrities – and their stylists – didn't hold back with top fashion moments including Taylor Swift's take on The Naked Dress and Rihanna redefining maternity wear.
Florence Pugh's 'free the nipple' Valentino dress was a huge cultural moment, as was Brad Pitt's skirt. Jennifer Aniston covered a magazine in a teeny tiny Chanel bikini, Margot Robbie wore possibly her most daring red carpet look yet, Kim Kardashian attended the Met Gala in Marilyn Monroe's actual dress and Kate, Princess of Wales wore possibly her best look yet at the Top Gun: Maverick London premiere.
And that's just a handful of the headline-making fashion moments this year.
January 2022
'Ye' (artist formerly known as Kanye West) wears full-face balaclava
Undoubtedly, the most talked-about couple at the beginning of 2022 was Julia Fox and Kanye West. Their ill-fated relationship was much publicised, with the majority of it spanning Paris Men's Fashion Week in January.
The couple rocked up at most of the events in matching outfits, and Fox even debuted her now iconic black eyeshadow look. Yet, it was Ye's law-bending balaclava look, worn to the Schiaparelli show, that will go down in history. The mask is legally iffy, as it breaks France's controversial Law of 2010-1192, or the "act prohibiting concealment of the face in public space".
February 2022
Maya Jama channels Cher at the BRIT Awards
Maya Jama reminded us all of Cher's iconic 1986 Oscars outfit with this edgy take on the cut-out trend.
The TV presenter, who is set to host ITV's Love Island in 2023, wore a black co-ord set from Mônot featuring a zig-zag crop top that perfectly matched her zig-zagged black skirt, almost identical to the "Do You Believe" singer's ensemble.
March 2022
Heavily pregnant Rihanna attends Dior show in lingerie and Zendaya channels Sharon Stone
Rihanna's pregnancy looks went from strength to strength in early 2022, with the singer championing the bump-baring trend.
This peaked during Paris Fashion Week in March, where the 34-year-old wore a sheer black dress with lingerie underneath, coupled with knee-high black boots and a coat for the Dior show.
Award ceremony red carpets came back with a bang in 2022 – and the stars were more than happy to oblige. Case in point: Zendaya on the 2022 Oscars red carpet in March. The actor and perennial style icon took a leaf out of Sharon Stone's book by imitating Stone's 1998 Academy Awards look with a white shirt and shimmering skirt.
Zendaya gave the look a more 2022 feel, however, with a micro-cropped white shirt paired with a flowing silver sequin skirt.
April 2022
Lenny Kravitz pairs heeled boots with a metal, mesh top at the Grammys
Lenny Kravitz turned heads at the GRAMMY Awards in April in a chain mail top and a pair of leather trousers.
However, it was the 57-year-old singer's footwear that won the biggest praise – he stepped out in a pair of knee-high heeled boots.
May 2022
Kim Kardashian's Marilyn moment, Kate's Hollywood night out, Blake Lively's colour-changing gown, Kylie Jenner's 'naked' dress and Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly's Billboard Music Awards appearance
Kim Kardashian sparked controversy when she arrived on the Met Gala red carpet wearing Marilyn Monroe's famous "naked dress".
As well as only being able to wear the dress for the duration of the red carpet - and having a changing room built for her at the end of the red carpet so she could swap the dress for a replica - Kardashian faced backlash when she told Vogue she had to lose 16lbs in order to fit into the dress. Some worried it marked the return of dangerous Y2K diet culture.
The Princess of Wales wore one of her best-ever looks to the Top Gun: Maverick premiere in May this year.
Kate was called a "supermodel" and a "queen" by social media users as she arrived at the premiere wearing a monochrome off-the-shoulder gown by Roland Mouret. She paired the look with sleek, straight hair and sparking star drop earrings.
Blake Lively is the undisputed Queen of the Met Gala - and this year was no different. The 35-year-old was one of the co-chairs of this year's event, and leant into the theme "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" with her Statue of Liberty-inspired gown.
Lively's Versace Atelier gown even transformed part way through the red carpet, as she arrived wearing an all-copper gown which was then unravelled to display a trailing blue skirt underneath.
For her first red carpet event since giving birth to her second child, a son, Kylie Jenner wore a naked dress without showing any flesh.
Attending the 2022 Billboard Music Awards with her four-year-old daughter Stormi and partner Travis Scott, Kylie Jenner's Balmain gown gave the illusion of being see-through, but really wasn't transparent at all.
Firm contenders for the best-dressed couple at this year's 2022 Billboard Music Awards, Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly slayed the red carpet.
Wearing co-ordinated black ensembles, with Fox in a David Koma gown and Kelly in a Dolce & Gabbana suit, Kelly completed his look with a $30,000 (£24,630) diamond manicure. Created by jeweller Marrow Fine, the manicure was upcycled into 10 diamond rings which were sold to buyers following the awards ceremony.
June 2022
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling transform into Barbie and Ken and Jennifer Lopez shows off her killer figure at the Halftime premiere
It's not often that an image can spark a whole movement, but after these images of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling appeared in June, as they filmed Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie in LA, the "Barbiecore" trend was born.
Barbiecore was the trend of the summer, with everyone buying all the bright pink items they could muster. And it's set to return again next summer when the film is (finally) released.
Jennifer Lopez left very little to the imagination with the black Tom Ford gown she wore to the premiere of her Netflix special, Halftime.
Strategically placed cut outs of sheer fabric kept the dress as modest as possible, but we suspect there was also lashings of boob tape at play.
July 2022
Florence Pugh's see-through Valentino dress, Brad Pitt's skirt, North West's front row moment and Gwyneth Paltrow's ab-baring PJs
No-one embodied the Barbiecore trend quite like Florence Pugh, who divided the internet with her sheer Valentino dress, spurring the actor to issue the following response on Instagram: "Listen, I knew when I wore that incredible Valentino dress that there was no way there wouldn’t be a commentary on it.
"What’s been interesting to watch and witness is just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see. What’s more concerning is…. Why are you so scared of breasts? Small? Large? Left? Right? Only one? Maybe none? What. Is. So. Terrifying?"
When Brad Pitt wore a skirt to the German premiere of Bullet Train in July, it's all anyone could talk about. The 59-year-old wore a brown linen skirt, matching jacket, a peach-hued linen top, layered necklaces and combat boots to the premiere, finishing off the look with some sunglasses.
When asked about his sartorial decision, Pitt told Variety: "I don’t know! We’re all going to die, so let’s mess it up."
Kim Kardashian is never one to shy away from a fashion statement - and she appears to have started bringing her daughter on the sartorial ride too.
The star, 42, attended Jean Paul Gaultier's haute couture show at Paris Fashion Week with her daughter North, nine, in July in matching black pinstriped ensembles with silver nose rings accessories.
Gwyneth Paltrow shone in canary yellow at a Goop event in East Hampton in July – and proved to be the perfect advertisement for the wellness brand.
The actress, 50, looked chic and comfy in a silky pyjama set and feathered sippers for the glamorous occasion.
August 2022
Taylor Swift's bejewelled take on The Naked Dress, Lil Nas' homage to Iman and Lizzo's billowing black gown
Taylor Swift stunned in crystals at the MTV VMAs in New York back in August, ensuring all eyes were on her.
The barely-there dress was by Oscar de la Renta – and the singer, 33, accessorised with a pair of silver strappy heels and a dash of red lipstick.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Lil Nas X was certainly paying Iman a big compliment with his MTV VMAs look.
The singer, 23, appeared to be wearing an almost identical black version of the 67-year-old supermodel's 2021 Met Gala gown.
Also at the MTV VMA's, Lizzo wowed in an all-black ensemble – with her voluminous Jean Paul Gaultier couture gown taking centre stage.
The singer, 34, finished off her striking look with a slick of black lipstick and silver jewellery.
September 2022
Bella Hadid's sprayed-on dress, Timothee Chalamet's backless outfit and Linda Evangelista's runway return
One of the biggest fashion moments of the year came from Bella Hadid, who began her turn on the Coperni catwalk at Paris Fashion Week in September almost entirely naked.
The model, 26, then proceeded to have a white mididress expertly sprayed onto her body, much to the amazement of onlookers.
Timothée Chalamet has long shown that he is happy to push fashion boundaries – and his outfit for the Bones And All premiere at the Venice Film Festival was no exception.
The actor, 26, wore a blood-red halter-neck jumpsuit by Haider Ackermann along with a pair of black boots.
Making her first catwalk appearance since 2007, Linda Evangelista walked the runway for Fendi's 60th anniversary in September.
The 57-year-old supermodel, who stepped out during New York Fashion Week, had shunned the limelight for 15 years after she claimed in Vogue that fat freezing left her "brutally disfigured".
October 2022
Heidi Klum's turns into a worm
The Queen of Halloween pulled out all of the stops for this year's costume. In October supermodel Heidi Klum, 49, turned up to her own Halloween party dresses as a giant worm.
The outfit included a seriously creepy face prosthetic, which Klum continued to wear even when she changed out of her worm costume and into her nearly naked second outfit.
November 2022
Jennifer Aniston's micro Chanel bikini and Julia Fox's cutaway dress
Jennifer Aniston in a Chanel micro bikini isn't something we thought we'd cross off of our 2022 bingo card, but we're sure glad we did.
The 53-year-old's Allure interview quickly went viral after the actor revealed that she went through IVF in the past, and said that she feels "the best in who I am today, better than I ever did in my 20s and 30s even, or my mid-40s".
Julia Fox took the cut-out dress trend to the extreme during the CFDA awards in November.
The annual event looks to honour the most innovative up-and-coming designers, and the 32-year-old wore a black gown that exposed her underwear and torso by Milan-based designer, Valerievi.
December 2022
Rita Ora's facial prosthetics, Margot Robbie's most daring red carpet look yet and Shania Twain's throwback leopard print outfit
While Rita Ora's barely there outfit should have been the focal point of her British Fashion Awards look, it was hard to take our eyes off, well, her eyes.
The singer turned up to the December awards wearing scale-like prosthetics that framed her eyes, and she died her naturally dark eyebrows a bottle blonde to match the look. The singer's makeup artist later explained that they were vying for a "sexy mermaid" look.
TikTok users rejoiced earlier this year after they suspected that Margot Robbie had been "freed" from her Chanel contract. The actor has been an ambassador for the luxury French brand since 2018, and has worn largely Chanel looks on red carpets ever since.
However, Robbie has now started to switch up the designers she chooses for red carpet events, with her latest look being a daring hooded mini dress by Alaïa. We love to see it.
As an honouree at this year's People's Choice Awards, Shania Twain decided to pay homage to one of her most iconic music video looks.
The 57-year-old singer wore a custom Rodarte gown to the awards, which was reminiscent of the hooded leopard print look she wore for her 1998 music video, "That Don't Impress Me Much".
Watch: Shania Twain says she feels a "renewed confidence"
