2024 MTV VMAs: Taylor Swift makes it a night to remember, Chappell Roan shuts down the stage and a full list of winners
With an impressive roster of performers and historic wins on the line, this year’s VMAs were an event not to be missed.
Taylor Swift accepts the Video of the Year award for “Fortnight” at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. (Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
The 2024 MTV Video Music Awards brought the house down.
Since 1984, the VMAs have delivered unforgettable performances, and this year was no exception. Megan Thee Stallion emceed the night’s festivities and also performed. She was joined onstage over the course of the night by a high-profile roster of presenters and performers including Eminem, who opened the show, as well as Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Katy Perry, who received the Video Vanguard Award.
Taylor Swift was the recipient of the final award of the night, Video of the Year, for “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone. In her acceptance speech, she took the opportunity to shout out her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, for making the video shoot “something that I’ll always remember.”
Yahoo Entertainment’s live coverage of the show has ended. Catch up on all the highlights from the night below.
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David Artavia
Megan Thee Stallion closes out the show
Megan Thee Stallion brought the VMAs to a close with her signature energy after Taylor Swift won Video of the Year for “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone.
“Thank you to all our fans all around the world! Congratulations to all the winners!” she said, before turning to the camera with a special message. “And to my Hotties at home, vote!”
Neia Balao
Taylor Swift on ‘boyfriend’ Travis Kelce: ‘Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic’
As the 2024 VMAs came to a close, Taylor Swift took home the biggest honor of the night: Video of the Year for “Fortnight.” The Tortured Poets Department singer shared a sweet anecdote about what it was like filming the video, which she also directed.
“Something that I’ll always remember is that when I would finish a take and I’d say ‘Cut,’ I would just hear someone cheering … from across the studio where we were shooting it. And that one person was my boyfriend, Travis [Kelce],” she said. “Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic. So, I want to thank him for adding that to our shoot.”
Swift concluded her speech by urging awards show attendees and viewers at home to register to vote in the presidential election.
David Artavia
Taylor Swift wins Video of the Year for ‘Fortnight,’ feat. Post Malone
Taylor Swift and Post Malone. (Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
Ariana Grande — “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”
Billie Eilish — “Lunch”
Doja Cat — “Paint the Town Red”
Eminem — “Houdini”
Sza — “Snooze”
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone — “Fortnight”
Neia Balao
Chappell Roan: ‘Thank you for listening’
Chappell Roan accepts the award for Best New Artist. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for MTV)
With her diary in hand, Chappell Roan took to the VMAs stage to accept the award for Best New Artist.
“I wrote a speech from my diary,” she began. “I dedicate this to all the drag artists who inspired me, who inspire me. And I dedicate this to queer and trans people that fuel pop. … To the gays who dedicate my songs to someone they love or hate and thank you to the people who are fans, who listen to me, who hear me when I share my joy and my fears. Thank you for listening.”
The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer concluded, “For all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now, I see you, I understand you, because I’m one of you. And don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t be exactly who you want to be, bitch.”
David Artavia
Anitta wins Best Latin for ‘Mil Veces’
Anitta performs onstage at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. (Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
Anitta — “Mil Veces”
Bad Bunny — “Monaco”
Karol G — “Mi Ex Tenía Razón”
Myke Towers — “Lala”
Peso Pluma & Anitta — “Bellakeo”
Rauw Alejandro — “Touching the Sky”
Shakira & Cardi B — “Puntería”
David Artavia
Chappell Roan wins Best New Artist
Chappell Roan. (Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
Benson Boone
Chappell Roan
Gracie Abrams
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims
Tyla
David Artavia
Eminem wins Best Hip-Hop for ‘Houdini’
Drake feat. Sexyy Red & Sza — “Rich Baby Daddy”
Eminem — “Houdini”
GloRilla — “Yeah Glo!”
Gunna — “Fukumean”
Megan Thee Stallion — “Boa”
David Artavia
Dua Lipa wins Best Choreography for ‘Houdini’
Bleachers — “Tiny Moves”
Dua Lipa — “Houdini”
Lisa — “Rockstar”
Rauw Alejandro — “Touching the Sky”
Tate McRae — “Greedy”
Troye Sivan — “Rush”
David Artavia
Eminem wins Best Visual Effects for ‘Houdini’
Ariana Grande — “The Boy Is Mine”
Eminem — “Houdini”
Justin Timberlake — “Selfish”
Megan Thee Stallion — “Boa”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Get Him Back!”
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone — “Fortnight”
David Artavia
Taylor Swift wins Best Pop
Camila Cabello
Dua Lipa
Olivia Rodrigo
Sabrina Carpenter
Tate McRae
Taylor Swift
David Artavia
Taylor Swift wins for Best Direction, Best Editing
Best Direction
Ariana Grande — “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”
Bleachers — “Tiny Moves”
Eminem — “Houdini”
Megan Thee Stallion — “Boa”
Sabrina Carpenter — “Please Please Please”
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone — “Fortnight”
Best Editing
Anitta — “Mil Veces”
Ariana Grande — “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”
Eminem — “Houdini”
Lisa — “Rockstar”
Sabrina Carpenter — “Espresso”
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone — “Fortnight”
David Artavia
Sza wins Best R&B for ‘Snooze’
Alicia Keys — “Lifeline”
Muni Long — “Made for Me”
Sza — “Snooze”
Tyla — “Water”
Usher, Summer Walker, 21 Savage — “Good Good”
Victoria Monét — “On My Mama”
David Artavia
Taylor Swift wins Artist of the Year
Taylor Swift. (Gotham/WireImage)
Ariana Grande
Bad Bunny
Eminem
Sabrina Carpenter
Sza
Taylor Swift
Kelsey Weekman
Lenny Kravitz turns up the heat
The fire lighting up the stage during Lenny Kravitz’s performance is making it actually hot in here.
— Reporting live from UBS Arena
Neia Balao
Halsey channels early ’00s pop punk with ‘Ego’ performance
Halsey performs at the 2024 VMAs. (Manny Carabel/Getty Images for MTV)
Halsey took the VMAs stage to perform “Ego,” the second track off her forthcoming album, The Great Impersonator. Wearing a very pop-punk-inspired ensemble — a collared shirt and tie, low-rise jean shorts and lace-up boots — Halsey channeled early aughts angst as she performed with a full band in a garage-decorated set.
who else had a heart attack when halsey lifted up the garage door and thought taylor was holding the guitar im so on edge rn 😭
— Kallie 🐍 (@fallingfor30) September 12, 2024
Eagle-eyed viewers — including some of us at Yahoo Entertainment — initially mistook Victoria De Angelis, the Italian songwriter and producer who played guitar alongside Halsey during the performance, for none other than Taylor Swift.
Alexis Shaw
Carson Daly comes home
Carson Daly returned to the MTV VMAs stage to announce the winner for Best K-Pop, and he was feeling a little nostalgic.
“It’s an honor to be here, crazy, but an honor to be here for the 40th anniversary of the VMAs,” Daly said. “For those of you who are a little too young to know who I am, I was the host of a show on MTV called Total Request Live, or TRL, a very long time ago. It was the best. The best show. Kids going crazy in Times Square and every day after school I was with your mother, so please tell her I said hi.”
David Artavia
Ariana Grande wins Best Cinematography
Ariana Grande — “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”
Charli XCX — “Von Dutch”
Dua Lipa — “Illusion”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Obsessed”
Rauw Alejandro — “Touching the Sky”
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone — “Fortnight”
David Artavia
Lisa wins Best K-Pop for ‘Rockstar’
Jung Kook feat. Latto — “Seven”
Lisa — “Rockstar”
NCT Dream — “Smoothie”
NewJeans — “Super Shy”
Stray Kids — “Lalalala”
Tomorrow X Together — “Deja Vu”
David Artavia
Billie Eilish wins Video for Good
Alexander Stewart — “If You Only Knew”
Billie Eilish — “What Was I Made For” (from the motion picture “Barbie”)
Coldplay — “Feelslikeimfallinginlove”
Joyner Lucas & Jelly Roll — “Best for Me”
Raye — “Genesis”
Tyler Childers — “In Your Love”
David Artavia
Megan Thee Stallion wins Best Art Direction
Megan Thee Stallion. (Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for MTV)
Charli XCX — “360”
Lisa — “Rockstar”
Megan Thee Stallion — “Boa”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Bad Idea Right?”
Sabrina Carpenter — “Please Please Please”
Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone — “Fortnight”
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2024 MTV VMAs highlights: Katy Perry delivers epic performance, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter win big and ‘my boyfriend, Travis’
It was clear at the MTV Video Music Awards: the next generation of stars have arrived.
Reporter
Updated 4 min read
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Katy Perry performs at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. (John Shearer/Getty Images for MTV)
The 2024 Video Music Awards took place on Sept. 11 in New York, and for the first time in years, there was some special energy at the awards show reminiscent of the early aughts. Some of those artists, like Eminem, were in attendance tonight, but there were plenty of new and deserving faces that became winners for the first time.
From Katy Perry’s victory lap to Taylor Swift’s big wins — and Travis Kelce shout-out — here are some of the standout moments from the night.
Perry gives career-spanning performance
It’s tradition for recipients of the Video Vanguard Award to perform a medley of their greatest hits, which is exactly what Perry did for 10 minutes as she sang and danced her heart out.
The 39-year-old singer’s performance was a highlight of the show as she had the crowd on their feet the whole time with songs like “Dark Horse,” “E.T.,” “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl” and “Firework.” She included two singles off her forthcoming album 143 — and one of them was not “Woman’s World.”
Swift, a former Perry foe-turned-friend, danced throughout Perry’s memorable moment. We’ve come a long way from the “Bad Blood” days, everyone!
On the personal front, things seem to be going better than ever for Perry. She was introduced by fiancé Orlando Bloom and, well, they were adorable. The two shared a passionate kiss after her performance when he officially presented her with the award.
Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry. (Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
“I did that all on the first day of my period,” Perry began. She eventually got more serious in her acceptance speech as she said there are “no decade-long accidents” before delivering a message to the next generation of singers.
“I’m excited when I look around music today and I see all the amazing young artists who are operating with confidence, agency, vulnerability, and authenticity,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot of do this, don’t say that, wear less, wear more now… One of the biggest reasons I’m standing here right now is because I learned how to block out all of the noise that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against — especially women.”
Perry added, “Do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself and true to your art. Turn off social media, safeguard your mental health. Pause. Touch grass. And do what you were born to do, just like I was born to do this.”
The next gen of pop stars have arrived — but Swift still reigns supreme
Many of the artists Perry was referencing were in the building as Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Benson Boone and GloRilla all gave energetic performances during the show. Carpenter won the coveted Song of the Year for “Espresso.” Roan took home the Moon Person for Best New Artist. Tyla and Boone walked away winners.
It’s not all out with the old, in with the new, though. Swift won seven awards including two of the biggest categories: Artist of the Year and Video of the Year.
‘My boyfriend, Travis’
During her acceptance speech for Video of the Year, Swift started going through her list of “thank you’s” which included Post Malone, her cinematographer and one very special person.
“The thing is, that this video seems very sad when you watch it, but it actually was the most fun video to make,” Swift, who also directed the video, said. “Something that I’ll always remember is that when I would finish a take and I’d say ‘cut’ and we’d be done with that take, I would always just hear someone cheering and woooo from across the studio where we were shooting it — and that one person was my boyfriend, Travis [Kelce].”
Swift continued, “Everything this man touches turns to happiness and fun and magic so I want to thank him for adding that to our shoot because I’ll always remember that.”
Although Kelce and Swift — who recently crossed the one-year mark in their relationship — have gone Instagram official, this is the first time fans have actually heard her shout out her boyfriend.
It was the Video Music Awards — minus a lot of awards
The show was jam-packed with live performances from Eminem, LL Cool J, LISA, Shawn Mendes, Megan Thee Stallion, Camila Cabello and others. That only left room for a handful of awards to be presented on stage. Viewers learned most winners in a montage during the second act. Several big awards — like Video of the Year, Best New Artist, Song of the Year — were handed out during the telecast.
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Springfield News-Leader
Despite newfound fame, Chappell Roan wants her space. Music, social media experts weigh in
8 min read
2
Chappell Roan is truly — in nearly every way possible — taking the world by storm.
It’s hard to miss the Willard native, now queer pop icon. Her catchy hits “Pink Pony Club,” “HOT TO GO!” and “Good Luck, Babe” are continuously played on the radio — with the latter ranked No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
On Wednesday night, she made her music awards show performance debut at the MTV Video Music Awards, also sweeping up the VMA for “Best New Artist.” And in October, her star-studded face will grace the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The cover story, which is already accessible on the Rolling Stone website, provides a raw, in-depth look into Roan’s quick claim to fame, much of which has been overwhelming for her.
Since gaining more widespread attention earlier this year following the release of her album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” Roan has been outspoken on issues that are important to her — notably those involving the LGBTQ+ community. Roan consistently works with local drag queens who open for her concerts, publicly declined an invitation to perform at the White House for Pride Month and next month, she’s donating a portion of the proceeds from her concert in Rogers, Arkansas to The GLO Center in Springfield.
But last month, Roan’s name was thrown into the public spotlight for a different type of speaking out.
Chappell Roan accepts the Best New Artist award.
On Aug. 19, Roan posted two videos to TikTok — sporting a T-shirt and messy bun — addressing individuals who have exhibited “predatory behavior” toward her.
In the first of the two videos, Roan poses several questions:
“If you saw a random woman on the street, would you yell at her from the car window? Would you harass her in public? Would you go up to a random lady and say, ‘Can I get a photo with you?’ and she’s like, ‘No, what the f**k?’ and then you get mad at this random lady? Would you be offended if she says no to your time because she has her own time? Would you stalk her family? Would you follow her around? Would you try to dissect her life and bully her online? This is a lady you don’t know and she doesn’t know you at all. Would you assume that she’s a good person, assume she’s a bad person? Would you assume everything you read about her online is true? I’m a random b***h. You’re a random b***h. Just think about that for a second, okay?”
She goes on, in the second video, to explain that even though these exhibitions of predatory behavior may be seen as “normal” for celebrities, she won’t tolerate them.
“I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along the job, the career field I’ve chosen,” she says in the video. “That does not make it okay. It doesn’t mean I want it, doesn’t mean that I like it. It’s weird how people think that you know a person just because you see them online and then listen to the art they make. I’m allowed to say no to creepy behavior, okay?”
As of Thursday, the two videos had more than 32 million views on TikTok, collectively. Within just a few hours, the videos began circulating on social media, with many fans concerned about just who Roan was talking about, with some suggesting the artist was ungrateful for her fan community’s support.
A few days later, Roan posted a statement on Instagram addressing the videos.
“For the past 10 years, I’ve been going nonstop to build my project and it’s come to the point that I need to draw lines and set boundaries,” she opened the statement with. “I’ve been in too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions, and I just need to lay it out and remind you: women don’t owe you sh**.”
Roan goes on to explain that when she is on stage, in drag, performing — she is at work. But otherwise, she is not in “work mode” and doesn’t owe people anything.
“I am specifically talking about predatory behavior (disguised as ‘superfan’ behavior) that has become normalized because of the way women who are well-known have been treated in the past,” Roan explains in the statement, clarifying the direction of her TikTok videos.
Though Roan has spent more than a decade honing her craft, for many, she popped out of nowhere, rising to stardom “overnight.”
Chappell Roan is not alone
Since Roan’s various statements, several female musicians have stepped forward, showing their support for Roan, including Lady Gaga, Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams, Charli XCX and Billie Eilish. Elton John has also shown tremendous support to Roan, speaking with her in several interviews and playing her songs on his radio show, “Rocket Hour.”
Rebekah Moore, assistant professor of music at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, said unfortunately, Roan’s recent outcry is “very familiar territory.”
“I can say without hesitation that every woman I have booked and had more than a causal conversation with has disclosed some form of harassment, abuse, sex assault, violence that she has experienced as a result of being on stage, as a result of being someone who is perceived as being more publicly accessible,” Moore told the News-Leader. Throughout her career, Moore has worked in the live music production industry, often working directly with artists.
Rebekah Moore is an assistant professor in the department of music at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
As a fan of Roan already, Moore said she really liked both the TikTok videos and following Instagram statement because of how direct Roan was.
“I thought she was framing what had happened to her in terms that would get the attention it deserved, so being very blunt about her outrage and wanting to reestablish boundaries,” Moore said.
A notable and tragic story that has resurfaced following Roan’s statements is that of pop-punk musician Christina Grimmie, who was assassinated at age 22 at a concert in 2016. Following her concert at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida, Grimmie met with fans for autographs and photos. As she prepared to go in for a hug with a man who she assumed was a fan, he shot her four times, before killing himself. She died later that evening.
Singer Christina Grimmie attends a Macy’s iHeartRadio rising star in-store performance on May 16, 2015, in Whitehall, Pennsylvania.
One of the factors that has driven predatory “super fan” behavior in recent years, Moore said, is social media.
Social media breeds a new form of parasocial relationship
“We are encouraged through the nature of social media, through the nature of fandom … to perceive ourselves as being in some sort of relationship with artists whose music we love,” Moore said. “Whether or not the songs are actually about them (artists), we interpret these songs as something that reflects their inner workings, their emotional realities, their relationship realities. We think we know them because of their art.”
This type of one-sided relationship, between a fan and a public figure, is known as a parasocial relationship.
Holly Holladay, an associate professor of media, journalism and film at Missouri State University, has studied fan and celebrity parasocial relationships extensively. In 2013, she co-published a report dedicated to research on Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters fan community.
Holly Holladay is an associate professor of media, journalism and film at Missouri State University.
Holladay said there are typically two categories into which fans fall in parasocial relationships. The first is the “obsessive loner,” a fan with “86 Chappell Roan tattoos” who stalks the musician’s every move online. The second is the “hysterical mob,” who Roan was addressing in her public statements. These “fans” take direct action to more or less take advantage of a celebrity’s lack of public boundaries.
Social media has added another layer to this dynamic, allowing fans to feel even closer to those they admire.
“Social media, and this is especially true for social media manned by the celebrity themselves, reduces that distance, reduces that barrier, so that intimacy and the feeling of knowingness is very much increased,” Holladay said. “It used to be … when you learn information about a star, you learn through these very carefully selected channels … so like celebrity gossip magazines, interviews or press releases. Now, it’s almost as if you have a much more direct contact with a celebrity.”
Chappell Roan
In Roan’s case, it appears she manages her own social media, especially when she posts videos like the two on TikTok featuring a more relaxed face and attire in comparison to her on-stage persona.
Feeling a sense of hometown protection over Roan, Holladay said she feels sympathy for her.
“I challenge any of us to imagine what it would be like to have everybody giving attention to you overnight,” Holladay said.
A ‘non-manufactured’ persona
Perhaps one of the reasons why folks feel so connected to Roan is because of her authenticity, on and off stage.
“She feels so non-manufactured and that’s funny because her whole persona is drag, camp,” Holladay said, adding that she believes Roan is “radically special” in the way she is representing the LGBTQ+ community.
Moore echoed Holladay.
“I think for rural queers, we didn’t have a model quite like this,” Moore said.
Reading from her diary as she accepted her “Best New Artist” VMA on Wednesday night, Roan remained authentic to her audience.
“For all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now, I see you, I understand you because I’m one of you,” Roan said during her acceptance speech. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t be exactly who you want to be, b***h.”
The News-Leader contacted Roan’s PR team for a statement about her recent public statements but was unsuccessful in reaching the artist by deadline.
Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. She has more than five years of journalism experience covering everything from Ozarks history to Springfield’s LGBTQIA+ community. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Chappell Roan asks fans to respect her privacy amid newfound fame
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Opinion
Chappell Roan: this Gen Z star could be pop’s next phenomenon
3 min read
Femininomenon: Chappell Roan – Katja Ogrin
Chappell Roan is an overnight success a decade in the making. A 26-year-old risqué American pop singer-songwriter who dresses like a drag queen and performs like she’s ready to storm the venue and shriek into the faces of every last audience member to get her message across, Roan has actually been knocking around the music business since she was 17. She’s been signed, dropped and resigned by major labels who evidently didn’t know quite what to make of her. Last year, when Island released her fantastic debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, it barely made a ripple. Yet her bravura songcraft and megawatt charisma kept it bubbling online, until a new single Good Luck, Babe! landed in April and suddenly Roan was the hottest property in pop, with her album topping the UK charts in June. She was hailed as the rightful heir to Lady Gaga and as a maxed-out vamped-up version of current chart darling Sabrina Carpenter.
Roan arrived for her first UK and European tour on the back of winning Best New Artist at the VMAs last week. The venues she has been booked into are already too small to encompass her fame, and the lucky ticket holders at the 2,6000-capacity Manchester O2 Academy for her debut show arrived ready to party. Mainly young and female, with a strong LGBTQ presence, they were attired as if they’d had a rampage through a dressing-up box, a throng of colourful mermaids, alien princesses and extravagant drag queens.
It is an audience who tell you everything you need to know about the impact Chappell Roan is making. Manchester Academy has the ambience of a dingy rock venue but was transformed into a giddy pop carnival as Roan and a tight three-piece girl band banged out her bright anthems with a surprisingly raucous glam punk drive. For all the talk comparing Roan to other recent female pop stars, backed by a grungy female power trio dressed in shiny blue costumes with long hair blowing in a wind machine, there was something akin to Joan Jett and the Runaways rocking out in the 21st century. Albeit even a vintage punk-like Jett might have blushed at some of the lyrics being screamed in unison by the crowd, celebrating oral sex on Casual and masturbation on Picture You. The audience yelled, chanted and sang every line of Roan’s empowering pop songs, voices rising to a blast furnace peak at the most risqué moments. “Touch me! Touch me! Touch me!” they screamed in wall-shaking unison during Naked in Manhattan.
There is a pleasingly old-fashioned songcraft and musicality to Roan’s oeuvre, even if the lyrical content lends it a contemporary edge. Arpeggio ballad Coffee is effectively a doo-wop song about the dangers of having sex with your ex, delivered with acoustic guitar and tenderly sad vocals almost drowned out by the crowd singalong. Roan has correctly described her uproarious dance anthem HOT TO GO! as being like “YMCA, but gayer” – if you can imagine that – and the audience enthusiastically mirrored all the star’s corny dance moves.
While her set already feels like a greatest hits run, really she’s just getting started. Roan’s brashly entertaining songs about the trials of dating, sex and self-empowerment are speaking loudly to a mainstream female audience. As fans spilled out into the night, I overheard a lot of talk about this being the greatest gig they had ever seen, and that is a reflection of seeing their inner lives being enacted in full-blooded songs and performances. It has the feel of a phenomenon – or a Femininomenon as Roan puts it in a song of that name. I don’t think we will be seeing her in venues of this size ever again.
Touring the UK until Sept 21; iamchappellroan.com
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New York Fashion Week’s Best Spring 2025 Looks Redefine Real Clothes
6 min read
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Credit: BFA.com
The final day of New York Fashion Week’s Spring 2025 season arrived the morning after MTV’s 2024 Video Music Awards. During the ceremony, stars like Katy Perry, Chappell Roan, and Tyla wore sheer naked dresses and shredded two pieces with underwear poking through, some (like Perry’s) still warm from walking a Spring 2025 runway days before. Covering the VMAs’ most memorable looks for Marie Claire reinforced a truth every fashion editor knows: a lot of trends set by designers are designed first and foremost for celebrities. Or social media. Or celebrities who can’t stay off social media.
It only took waking up the next morning and heading to work to see the counterpoint to my own argument in flesh, blood, and fabric. And thank goodness: I was running out of things I wanted to wear. The best looks of New York Fashion Week’s Spring 2025 collections, championed by women-led brands, of course, aren’t designing for shock value—and they’re not settling for staid “wearability,” either.
Actually, there are some designers who’ve internalized the more over-the-top trends percolating for the past few seasons—like exaggerated fringe or sheer skirts—and found a way to make them work for Hollywood civilians. At the same time, they’ve pushed the business-woman special outfits on the other end of the spectrum in a more adventurous direction. In the middle: Heaps of clothes that are definitely wearable, but also interesting.
a model walks the runway at kallmeyer
My last morning of shows began at Kallmeyer, where designer Daniella Kallmeyer injected suggestions of big trends—a sheer skirt here, an open-back, draped plaid top with trousers there—into her signature smart tailoring. A shirt with a built-in coordinating tie returned in a gorgeous shade of deep marigold yellow. Classic black suits were remixed with A-line skirts for a bottom instead of pants. Drapey dresses flowed like a river while somehow not skewing too formal. From the second row, I saw a lineup I would buy in its entirety if I didn’t have student loan payments.
“We got to stretch ourselves out of our comfort zone as far as colors and textures and even certain shapes, while always revisiting and returning back to the Kallmeyer DNA,” Kallmeyer tells me in a voice memo a few days after the show, her first runway format in many seasons. And while the room was full, a splashy debut wasn’t necessarily the point. “At the end of the day, what matters the most to us is a making sure that after these clothes leave the runway and end up in your wardrobe,” she says. “That they feel like easy, loyal, trendless pieces that you can tie back into your existing style DNA and sort of future wearability.”
a model wears a semi sheer skirt with a blazer at kallmeyer spring 2025
Kallmeyer’s collection ended the week on a high note, and it wasn’t the only one that designed pieces I’m actively looking forward to shopping come April. Reviewing my camera roll filled with standouts from Tibi and Maria McManus, “future wearability” was the operative phrase. Designers Amy Smilovic and the titular Maria also understand how to ever-so-slightly modify peek-a-boo fabrics, or even naked shoes, for women who will probably never step foot on a red carpet. It’s a matter of balancing fabrics that reveal with more concealing shapes and colors—then styling them with an oversize blazer or a drop-waist top.
a model wears a cutout dress on the tibi runway
models from the maria mcmanus show gathering on the sidewalk
The moment Marie Claire fashion director Sara Holzman and I walked into the cavernous, candlelit loft where Diotima’s Spring 2025 presentation was held, we knew designer Rachel Scott was on the same page. Show notes said the collection was born of a “Carribbean dream,” and there’s always been a beachy sensibility to Scott’s crochets and seashell-like paliette embellishments. Yet when Scott styles a crochet, fringe-lined skirt with a black eyelet floral button-down, or a so-draped-it-could-be-wet column dress over cork wedge clogs, I see a version of summertime dressing that doesn’t have to be reserved for a resort. “This is actually something I’d wear,” Holzman said, snapping a few pictures on her phone.
a model wears a semi sheer diotima look
a model wears a butter yellow draped dress with lace detailing with cork wedge sandals
Of course, we aren’t just wearing clothes. According to Rachel Comey’s Spring 2025 show notes, we also “work, tour, talk, meet, vouch, argue, celebrate, debate, win, lose, listen, flow, arrive, make, stretch, change, find, hustle, carry” in our outfits. I didn’t doubt that I could do all those things in her draped blazers and lightly flared skirts if I wanted to. I also felt, seeing one of her trousers paired with a thigh-length fringe top or a business-y skirt matched to a blazer without a shirt underneath—and on models of all ages—that I could do those things without having to resort to a business casual startup brand. There was fun and refinement up for the task of the “book tour, industry event, or conference room” also mentioned in Comey’s show notes, or maybe even an A-lister’s schedule. Jemima Kirke, across the room from me, couldn’t stop taking pictures during the show—like she was filling her camera roll with her own closet references.
a model wears a rachel comey blazer and skirt with open toe sandals at new york fashion week
a model wears a rachel comey look while walking the runway at new york fashion week
New York Fashion Week’s Spring 2025 season is book-ended by another awards show, the Emmys on Sunday, Sept. 15. There will be trends set and reinforced on that red carpet, as is the case with every other. But if it’s “future wearability” you’re after, sit tight until next spring. This crop of designers made pieces worth waiting for.
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