A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

A Guide to All Creative Directors

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At the 2025 Grammys, the look changes didn't make sense

When red carpet clothes are worn only on the red carpet

At the 2025 Grammys, the look changes didn't make sense When red carpet clothes are worn only on the red carpet

Yesterday, in the middle of the Grammy Awards ceremony, Vanessa Friedman from The New York Times wondered on X about the meaning of having the classic red carpet and its related looks when more than half of the stars photographed constantly changed outfits throughout the evening. In the past, part of the fun in covering these events was seeing what outfit each star chose to wear. Last night, however, the audience was deprived of this pleasure: Miley Cyrus arrived in a Saint Laurent leather dress, switched to another black knit Saint Laurent outfit upon entering the hall, and wore an Alaïa dress when she took the stage; Chapell Roan transitioned from a Jean-Paul Gaultier archive piece to Thom Browne, Acne Studios, and finally a stage costume by Zana Bayne; Charli XCX had three looks, starting with Gaultier by Ludovic de Saint Sernin, moving to a vintage Dior look, and ending with Ann Demeulemeester. But examples abound: Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Cynthia Erivo, Doechii, and so on. Not all the stars mentioned made "pointless" outfit changes, as several (and others we haven’t mentioned) did change outfits to perform on stage – a fully justifiable choice considering makeup, choreography, or the art direction of specific performances. Nevertheless, many red carpet looks did not match the actual outfits seen throughout the evening, indicating a tendency to “fragment” the looks according to the various stages of the event, aiming to maximize the media impact of each moment. This logic makes sense in the world of social media and engagement but strips these looks of the authenticity that made red carpets so engaging, turning the arrival moment at the ceremony into something not only devoid of meaning but purely performative.

The “collapse of meaning” that affected the essential moment of red carpet looks was further demonstrated by the unexpected arrival of Kanye West and Bianca Censori, who were not invited. In front of photographers, Censori removed the long black coat she was wearing, revealing underneath a transparent dress under which she was completely naked. By “transparent,” we don’t mean the see-through nature of thin organza but rather the complete transparency of cellophane or glass – functionally, the dress wasn’t there, and Censori was entirely exposed under the unforgiving flashes of the cameras. Some might draw parallels between this moment and the fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes, though we doubt Hans Christian Andersen is on either of their reading lists. The look left many attendees stunned, and the photos predictably went viral worldwide. The most paradoxical part, however, was that the two were escorted out by security shortly after, making their presence (and the related shock) nothing more than a brief appearance on the red carpet. In fact, for most of the audience, what happens between the red carpet and the awards and performances is something entirely removed from the idea of the Grammys, being almost entirely invisible apart from a few videos documenting star interactions and photos of the second looks worn after the red carpet. West and Censori, who on the red carpet seemed more intent on staging a performance than enjoying themselves or being natural, were like those people who go to a party, post an Instagram story of people dancing, and leave after fifteen minutes. In real life, it would be cringe; in the world of stars, it’s a Sunday night.

@superficialdollxoxo

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Both Censori and Ye’s actions, along with the numerous outfit changes, seem to suggest that the entire substance of the ceremony and its densest focal point is just the arrivals, after which one can simply wear a more or less comfortable outfit or, as Ye and Censori did, head home. The point is that these red carpet looks, which have developed as a marketing strategy practically since the dawn of the star system as we know it, represented a sort of “style statement” and had intrinsic value precisely because these famous personalities chose to wear them to be represented in a certain way in future annals. Changing looks at every phase of the evening inevitably undermines this value, betraying, for lack of a better word, the desperation of celebrities, brands, and stylists to make a mark, as well as their fundamental lack of confidence in the looks they chose – not to mention the interchangeability of some brands, which lose importance when placed in rotation. But we’ll need to come to terms with it: the trend of these outfit changes and performative red carpets represents an inclination within media and celebrity culture – an inclination that values representations of things over the things themselves. In this light, having three different photos of Miley Cyrus in three different looks from one event allows for three posts instead of one, thus tripling attention and engagement while potentially pleasing two or more brands. Especially since, when she took the stage, Cyrus briefly addressed the audience, letting the name of the brand she was wearing drop – when was the last time advertising was subtle? These days, all marketing thrives in broad daylight.

In this context, simply appearing on the red carpet, even uninvited, counts as attending the event, provided one does not consider being removed by security a humiliation – though we doubt Ye and his spouse are influenced by such a bourgeois concept as shame. In any case, the attitude dictated by marketing logic is one of the many contradictions contributing, month by month, year by year, to the increasingly evident disconnection between reality and perception for the global public, especially regarding fashion. This disconnect leads us to accept that what is shown by the media never corresponds to the truth and that this is so obvious it doesn’t even warrant a comment – which explains the abundance of questions starting with "But what’s the point of..." that now dominate fashion journalism and insider discussions. The excessive outfit changes at the 2025 Grammys align with the same cultural trajectory as runway collections that look nothing like the in-store collections, the arbitrary pricing policies in fashion, and the phenomenon of overbranding when a single celebrity is the face of multiple brands, as seen with Charli XCX riding the brat summer wave or, more recently, with Zendaya, who seems to become the ambassador for a new brand every six months. It all makes sense only within the bubble of social media marketing, and so, to paraphrase the famous saying, as long as there’s engagement, there’s hope.