NEW YORK — Ariana Grande and Rihanna delivered definitive moments in 2025 red carpet fashion at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles and at the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Their choices — a crystal-drenched couture finale for “Wicked” and a tailoring-first pregnancy reveal — showed how celebrity style can double as storytelling and headline-making news, Dec. 27, 2025.
In 2025 red carpet fashion, the standout looks were rarely “just” beautiful. They were built with a point of view: method dressing that stayed tethered to a role, vintage sourcing that nodded to fashion history and personal messaging that controlled the conversation in a single image.
2025 red carpet fashion: Ariana Grande’s Oscars gown, engineered for Glinda
Grande, nominated for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Glinda, arrived at the Oscars, March 2, in a voluminous Schiaparelli spring 2025 couture gown styled by Mimi Cuttrell. The look paired a fitted bodice and sculptural peplum with a gauzy tulle skirt and more than 190,000 crystals — a detail that turned “sparkle” into a feat of construction, as detailed in Vogue’s breakdown of the Schiaparelli look.
What made the dress land was its precision: unmistakably “Grande,” unmistakably “Wicked” and still unmistakably high fashion. It didn’t read as costume; it read as commitment — a red-carpet strategy that treated awards season like a narrative arc with a final, decisive frame.
That archival instinct showed up again later in the year. A Marie Claire roundup of 2025’s strongest vintage pulls highlighted Grande’s circa-1952 Gilbert Adrian ballgown at the “Wicked: For Good” London premiere, a move that placed a modern blockbuster moment inside a midcentury design history.
2025 red carpet fashion: Rihanna’s Met Gala entrance, tailored for two
Rihanna used the Met Gala steps, May 5, to announce her third pregnancy — first stepping out in Miu Miu while en route, then arriving as the night’s final guest in head-to-toe Marc Jacobs. The look centered on a cropped black jacket, a wool bustier bodysuit, a pinstripe skirt with a bustle, a satin cravat and a wide-brim hat created with milliner Stephen Jones, according to Vogue’s report from the red carpet.
In a year crowded with gowns, Rihanna’s power came from structure. The message was immediate: pregnancy did not require softer dressing, nor did it demand shrinking the silhouette. She has previously made the case that maternity should not limit how she gets dressed, and this was that argument delivered in tailoring, not sound bites.
What made these moments “definitive”
They were legible at a glance. Grande’s crystals and silhouette telegraphed a “Wicked” farewell; Rihanna’s suiting and timing made the reveal unavoidable.
They respected context. Both looks worked with the event — Oscars grandeur for Grande, Met theme-driven tailoring for Rihanna — without getting swallowed by it.
They had follow-through. Each moment connected to a longer style story rather than feeling like a one-night stunt.
Continuity — and why these moments stuck
Neither moment came out of nowhere. InStyle’s catalog of Grande’s red carpet moments traces her shift from early pop-era minis to more theatrical couture choices, while Vogue’s look back at Rihanna’s Met Gala history shows how she has long treated the event as fashion theater. In 2025 red carpet fashion, that kind of continuity mattered: the biggest looks weren’t one-offs, but chapter markers that made the year’s carpets feel like a connected story.
As 2025 red carpet fashion gives way to 2026, the takeaway is clear: spectacle still matters, but meaning matters more. Grande and Rihanna made that equation visible — one crystal at a time, one tailored seam at a time.
