From Paris Fashion Week to the BAFTAs: How Celebrity Trends Begin

Who are Britain’s best-dressed celebrities right now? In 2026, Tatler named the Princess of Wales Britain’s best-dressed figure, praising her return to the spotlight. Her list also included Gjin Lipa, who placed fifth, and Bridgerton’s Hannah Dodd, who placed tenth. At the 2026 Brit Awards, British Vogue singled out Harry Styles in a pinstripe Chanel suit and Olivia Dean in a Loewe beaded gown.

Who is named worst dressed? The answer changes with every ceremony, because “worst dressed” is an editorial opinion, not a measurement. Publications such as Nicki Swift, which criticised several stars at the 2026 National Television Awards, and The List, which did the same for the BAFTAs, tend to penalise the same things: literal copies of runway pieces, poor fit, and clothes that ignore the occasion.

What do Britain’s best-dressed celebrities have in common?

Tatler’s list is useful because it is wide-ranging. It rewards a royal, a pop star’s brother, an actor and a museum director alike. The magazine praised Edward Bluemel for a “London cool-boy look,” and the list placed Sir Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, ninth.

What links these very different people is a clear personal point of view. The Princess of Wales is known for elegant, brightly coloured outfits, such as the bold yellow she wore at Royal Ascot this year. Styles has a long-running relationship with Chanel. Dean’s Loewe gown suited the Brits, an event that, in British Vogue’s words, relies on personality more than polish. In each case the look is recognisably theirs and fits the setting.

Who gets named worst dressed, and why?

Several publications publish these verdicts. After the 2026 National Television Awards, Nicki Swift criticised several stars, including Katie Price, but conceded that nobody could accuse her of playing it safe. After the BAFTAs, The List highlighted sculptural garments, misjudged colours and poor styling.

Two cautions apply. First, many names on BAFTA lists are international guests, so a “worst dressed” headline is not necessarily about a British celebrity. Second, risk is punished more harshly than blandness. A bold choice that does not land is easy to criticise, while a safe suit rarely gets noticed at all.

How does fashion week reach the red carpet?

Fashion weeks work as a catalogue for stylists, who borrow, adapt or commission pieces from them. Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2027 show is a current example. Matthieu Blazy’s collection was staged at the Grand Palais on 5 October, with skirt suits in sheer cream or black fabric embroidered with flowers and beads. It was inspired by Gabrielle Chanel’s early years as a lingerie seamstress, and Dua Lipa sat in the front row.

Seasonal collections usually reach shops months after the show. Red-carpet looks typically come from earlier collections or from custom commissions. The BAFTAs, held each February, therefore tend to reflect the previous seasons’ runways.

The process runs in four stages:

1. The collection is shown and photographed.
2. Stylists request pieces, or commission bespoke versions, for clients.
3. The celebrity wears the look at a premiere or ceremony.
4. Editors and the public judge it, which becomes the “best” or “worst” verdict.

Why do the same silhouettes succeed on one person and fail on another?

Runway clothes are designed for movement, a catwalk and a camera angle. On a static red carpet, structure that looks dramatic in motion can look awkward. The List’s 2026 BAFTA report noted sculptural garments that, in its view, did not work.

The strongest looks usually adapt the idea rather than copy the piece. At the 2026 BAFTAs, Wunmi Mosaku won best supporting actress in a custom Ahluwalia gown, a bespoke commission by a London label rather than a runway piece worn as shown.

What do runway models contribute?

Before a collection reaches a stylist’s rail, it has already been worn by the models who walk it. At Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2027 show on 5 October, Dyanira Hurbuscher opened in a sheer ivory slip dress and closed in a black tweed skirt suit, carrying Gabrielle Chanel’s own 2.55 bag. Mona Tougaard wore a sand-coloured top cinched with a red leather belt over a boucle skirt. Moriya Bitton, an Israeli model, was among the cast who presented the collection’s 83 looks.

Their job is practical. On the runway, a garment is seen in motion for the first time, and editors, buyers and stylists take note of the proportions, the accessories and the styling. Those details often resurface months later in premiere and awards-season looks, which is how a Paris catwalk ends up shaping what a celebrity wears on a London red carpet.

What makes a red-carpet look succeed?

Critics’ verdicts differ, but their reasoning is consistent. Editors typically look for:

• Fit: the garment sits well on the wearer’s body.
• Occasion: the look suits the event. What works at the Brits can fail at a formal ceremony.
• Authorship: it feels chosen by the wearer, not imposed on them.
• Originality: it interprets a runway idea rather than reproducing it.

These are editorial criteria, not rules, and critics often disagree about the same outfit.

In short

Britain’s best-dressed celebrities in 2026 are those who adapt designers’ ideas to the occasion, as the Princess of Wales, Harry Styles and Olivia Dean did. The lowest-rated looks tend to copy runway pieces literally or ignore the event. The route from a Paris show like Chanel’s to a London red carpet runs through stylists, models and editors, and the verdict at the end is an opinion that is worth reading critically.