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Fashion is always looking backwards, taking cues from the past to reinvent itself for the future. But 2026 has brought an influx of reminiscing, perhaps kicked off by Hailey Bieber’s January Instagram throwback to 2016. It might feel like no time has passed, but things have certainly changed in the past decade; in 2016, we lived in a world where Kimye were still together, Sabrina Carpenter was a teen Disney Channel star, and “TiK ToK” was just a Kesha song. But as we look back 10 years into the past, it’s impossible to ignore the fashion and beauty moments that defined not just the year, but the entire era.
Today Kylie Jenner, who’s undergone a style transformation since dating Timothée Chalamet, is a billionaire businesswoman. But in 2016, her Kylie Cosmetics brand was just starting to blow up. Aside from her show-stopping appearance at the Met Gala that year, she had several unforgettable style moments that transitioned her from the Kardashians’ little sister to a superstar in her own right. Then there were A-listers like Rihanna, crossing over the boundary from recording artist to businesswoman and maintaining an image that reflected that power.
Looking back at the most memorable style moments from 2016 is also a clear reminder of the trends that dominated the times — many of them kicked off or perpetuated by these red-carpet-dwelling celebrities. While there are plenty of 2016 trends that deserve to stay in the past, there are also a few we should bring back (chokers, anyone?). Without further ado, we’re taking inspiration from the biggest names that made 2016 their own.
King Kylie leaves her mark on the Met Gala
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Kylie Jenner came out with her iconic lip kits in 2015, but 2016 was the year that Kylie Cosmetics found its brand voice and really took off. With the success of her business, Jenner evolved from that kid who was dancing on a pole in her mom’s house to the very top of the it-girl list. And the moment when that became very clear was the 2016 Met Gala, the fashion event of the year.
She’s a staple at fashion’s most prestigious night now, but this was the youngest Jenner’s debut at the Met. At just 18 years old, she came out of her shell before the lenses of the global media in a KarJenner-approved Balmain dress. The silver embellished frock had both illusion panels and feathers, and the reality star paired it with jewelry from the iconic Lorraine Schwartz. In a Snapchat from the night that has since been uploaded to YouTube, Jenner admitted that the jewels on her ears alone were worth millions. She told fans that the dress scratched her legs and made her bleed, and her shoes left her feet purple (we’re not surprised since heels can cause a range of foot conditions), but it was still worth it.
The look left such a mark partly due to Jenner’s refined side-parted bob, which was a major departure from her typical long thick mane. She did rock shorter locks elsewhere throughout the year, but her extensions were never far away. Later in 2016, Jenner went blond, and although she was already past the pastel hair phase by this point, she was firmly in her King Kylie era with matte lipstick worn at every turn.
Beyoncé twins with Blue Ivy Carter at the VMAs
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Beyoncé is an industry powerhouse year after year, so reflecting on her 2016 can feel like looking back a lifetime. For those who’ve forgotten, this was the year that Queen Bey released her groundbreaking visual album “Lemonade,” performed at the Super Bowl halftime show with Bruno Mars, and embarked on her “Formation World Tour.” There were too many iconic style moments to discuss them all, but the standout for us was her Video Music Awards red carpet look. In addition to looking like an otherworldly goddess, she was twinning in her celestial-ness with daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who was just four years old.
Her mint avant-garde dress was by Francesco Scognamiglio, and the “Cowboy Carter” singer had all eyes on the gown’s bold feather collar and beaded detail. She had her firstborn in tow, with little Blue in a similarly shimmery rose-gold dress with a fairy-esque tutu, the world’s cutest booties, and even a halo perched atop her braids. Beyoncé followed up her ethereal frock with a series of much edgier looks worn as she performed a medley of hits, stunned in a gold Elie Saab suit to accept the Best Female Video award, and then took home the trophy for Video of the Year in a Yolan Cris wedding dress.
It’s not just the aesthetic nature of these coordinated red-carpet looks that made this moment iconic; it was what they represented. This was one of the first times that Beyoncé brought her daughter to a public appearance on the scale of the VMAs, signaling to the world that the Carters were now a fashion force to be reckoned with. She followed through with that promise years later, inviting Blue Ivy to perform in her “Cowboy Carter” stadium tour in 2025.
Taylor Swift goes platinum blond to co-chair the Met Gala
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Kylie Jenner wasn’t the only A-lister making waves at the Met Gala in 2016. Taylor Swift had begun her ascension towards her destiny as the billionaire behind the Eras Tour, accepting an invitation to co-chair the Met Gala. It seems it was the year of the bobs, but Swift when a step further in making a splash with a platinum blond color we’d never seen on her before.
Aptly fitting the “Manus x Machina” theme, Swift teamed her bold platinum bob with moody dark-plum lipstick, a metallic snakeskin minidress with cutouts, and gladiator heels that tied all the way up to her knees. The Louis Vuitton dress was completely unexpected given the more elegant, glamorous gowns Swift had worn to the Met Gala in previous years, but it was her hair that had everyone talking. “It was Vogue’s idea,” Swift told the outlet from the red carpet, adding that her goal for the night was to resemble a “futuristic gladiator robot.” At the time, one fan commented beneath Vogue’s video of Swift’s interview, “She looks amazing, [I’m] so glad she finally changed her hair color.”
In hindsight, this look was the stuff of legends because it was the first glimpse Swifties got of the darker-coded Swift that emerged with the “Reputation” album and tour the following year. The song “Dress” from the “Reputation” album also featured some lyrics that fans suspect pertains to the 2016 Met Gala: “Flashback when you met me, your buzzcut and my hair bleached.” One Redditor theorized that Swift met future partner Joe Alwyn that night, with the lyrics pointing to “bleached hair for her, buzz cut for him.”
Rihanna cements her icon status with four changes at the VMAs
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Beyoncé took home the coveted video of the year award at the 2016 VMAs, but Rihanna was still serving up her own iconic moments. 2016, as the Rihanna Navy would remember, was the last year that their queen released an album. As she prepared to morph from recording artist to the businesswoman behind the Fenty empire, she released “Anti,” set out on a world tour, and cemented her icon status with a quartet of performances at the VMAs, where she accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
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In true Rihanna fashion, each performance was styled to reflect the mood of the songs she was singing. To perform her hits “Don’t Stop the Music,” “Only Girl (in the World),” “We Found Love,” and “Where Have You Been,” she took to the stage in a baby-pink romper complete with with leather chaps that had edgy cutouts and red-tinged sunglasses, her black hair up in a high pony. For her next performance, where she performed “Work,” she went with a furry velvet bra top, black pants, fishnet tights, embellished pumps, and a fishnet headscarf.
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Next, to perform “Needed Me,” “Pour It Up,” and “B—- Better have My Money,” the Bajan star brought back her signature mullet from years earlier. For the edgy look, she teamed thigh-high black boots with a black leotard and gloves, Michael Jackson-esque shoulder pads, stacked necklaces, and a fur stole. Finally, to perform “Stay,” “Love on the Brain,” and “Diamonds,” and to accept her award, she graced the stage in a dramatic haute couture gown by Alexandre Vauthier, paired with a grommet belt. This many intentional looks on a single night with no detail spared is the stuff of legends, just so you know.
Kim Kardashian owns fashion’s biggest trends in 2016
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Unlike her fellow A-listers, Kim Kardashian’s most iconic fashion moment of 2016 didn’t happen at a world-renowned event with a red carpet. She was in Paris for fashion week that September (on the same trip where she was notoriously robbed at gunpoint), and while leaving the Givenchy office, was spotted in a look that would come to represent the era. Kardashian was in her Kimye phase, and she was mixing athleisure with a bodysuit to create an unprecedented aesthetic.
Combining lace boned lingerie with track pants and other casual pieces became a Kardashian staple at the time. Together with her on-trend chokers, this look was peak 2016. Two years into her marriage to Kanye West, Kardashian was also in a period where her husband had a major influence over the clothes she wore. When they started dating in 2012, he sifted through her closet and had her remove pieces that he didn’t like, and soon, she was almost exclusively wearing his Yeezy designs. “I really do get all of my inspiration from my husband,” she revealed to People in 2019. “I literally just wear all of the Yeezy samples. They have a team of stylists and they put it all together. I’m totally inspired by Kanye and the Yeezy team — and listen to the advice of everyone over there who is making all the clothes.”
Some good did come out of Kimye’s joint fashion adventures, from the athleisure aesthetic to some of Kardashian’s most stunning Met Gala looks that we’ll never forget. But since the divorce, the SKIMS founder has learned to hold her own when it comes to designing her looks, and that’s a very good thing: The style secrets Kim Kardashian has picked up will change the way you get dressed.
