This was the year that live events — and by extension red carpet pageantry — came back in full force, bringing established showbiz fashionistas out of hibernation, and instantly minting new icons. The result was explosion of creativity where the goal for entertainers was to be talked about at all costs, no matter how many rules had to be broken. Below, the Red Carpet Renegades that drew the most attention in 2022.
Jason Blum
Creeped out guests at the Blumhouse Halloween party by dressing up as the killer doll from the studio’s upcoming horror film M3GAN.
Jason Blum
Leon Bennett/Getty Images
Bad Bunny
Collaborated with Burberry’s Ricardo Tisci on a Met Gala look that merged men’s and women’s gilded-age styles from Puerto Rico.
Bad Bunny
NKevin Mazur/MG22/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Timothée Chalamet
One-upped his shirtless Oscars fit with a backless Haider Ackermann halter in Venice.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Julia Fox
Temporarily shifted the conversation away from Will Smith at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party with a throat-gripping goth-glam gown and a clutch seemingly made of human hair.
Julia Fox
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Bella Hadid
Modeled an emperor’s-new-clothes look in the Coperni show at Paris Fashion Week, with a white fiber dress sprayed directly onto her nearly naked body.
Bella Hadid
Pierre Suu/Getty Images
Jeremy O. Harris
Showed his primary colors at the GQ Men of the Year party.
Jeremy O. Harris
Phillip Faraone/Getty Images
Oscar Isaac
Flashed calves in a Thom Browne skirt suit at Moon Knight’s London premiere in March.
Jeff Spicer/Getty Images
Allison Janney
Displayed sheer courage with the see-through black Naeem Khan gown she wore to the People We Hate at the Wedding premiere.
Allison Janney
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Kim Kardashian
Glided up the steps to the Met Gala in one of the most iconic dresses of all time, the glittering Jean Louis dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in 1962 to sing “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy, and which Kardashian borrowed from Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Kim Kardashian (again)
Wrapped herself in Balenciaga caution tape at Paris Fashion Week, before she distanced herself from the brand over a controversial ad campaign.
Kim Kardashian
Best Image / BACKGRID
Heidi Klum
Redefined “doing the worm” with her unbeatable Halloween costume in New York City.
Noam Galai/Getty Images
Lil Nas X
Proved his catwalk cred time and again this year, but especially with his live performance at the Vogue World even in New York, in a silver crop top and lamé trousers, complete with his favorite stuffed animal, Slush the Husky.
Lil Nas X
Sean Zanni/Getty Images
Blake Lively
Embodied the “Gilded Glamour” theme of the Met Gala — which she co-chaired — with a Versace gown inspired by NYC landmarks including the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station and the Statue of Liberty.
Blake Lively
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Lizzo
Sailed into the VMAs in a voluminous black Jean Paul Gaultier number that she later joked about on Twitter (“My stylist: How much fabric do you want to wear? Me: Yes”).
Lizzo
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Brad Pitt
Pulled off a custom skirt by Haans Nicholas Mott at a Berlin screening of Bullet Train in July.
Sebastian Reuter/Getty Images
Florence Pugh
Set the Internet ablaze (as usual) with a sheer Valentino two-piece at Paris Fashion Week.
Florence Pugh
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Walked the Emmys red carpet for the first time in a stunning custom gown by Brandon Blackwood.
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Mark Von Holden/NBC/Getty Images
Rihanna
Turned her baby bump into a showstopping accessory up until her son’s birth in May.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Taylor Russell
Stole the spotlight from her Bones and All co-star Timothée Chalamet with a look from Schiaparelli’s fall 2022 couture show.
Taylor Russell
John Phillips/Getty Images
Kristen Stewart
Showed up to the Oscars in Chanel short shorts.
Kristen Stewart
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Harry Styles
Greened up the red carpet with the Gucci suit he donned for the Toronto premiere of My Policeman.
Harry Styles
Jodie Turner-Smith
Had fashionistas agog all year, but never more than with this amazing technicolor dream-dress by Christopher John Rogers, at the Bardo premiere in Venice.
Jodie Turner-Smith
John Phillips/Getty Images
A version of this story first appeared in the Dec. 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.