These ladies absolutely slayed the red carpet every time they stepped foot on it. Out of all the men and women we featured all year, they were among those who dominated in the style department. These fashionistas aren’t all new to the acting and modeling worlds either, but they made enough of an impact over the past twelve months to stay on our radar.
In no particular order, here are the nominees…
1. Ruth Negga
The Ethiopia-born actress has been in the game for over a decade now, but she truly made a splash in the critically-acclaimed film Loving this year. It pretty much put all eyes on her and the fashion industry welcomed her with open arms. Chic looks that turn heads have become her red carpet signatures.
She hit the Paris premiere of her movie in recently-debuted Valentino, covered Vogue’s January 2017 issue, and smoldered at The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences’ 8th Annual Governors Awards in Gucci.
In 2017, Negga will continue her role on Preacher. We can also expect to see a lot of her once awards season kicks into full swing.
She’ll be dropping jaws on the red carpet in more looks from some of her favorite brands, which include Rodarte, Dolce & Gabbana, and Valentino.
And we’re hoping there are more magazine covers in her future, as well as some front row Fashion Week sightings.
We can’t wait to see what Ruth has in store for the new year! Check out more examples of why she’s on the list here.
2. Sasha Lane
The actress captured our attention this year with her stellar performance in American Honey. She then hit the red carpet in high-fashion designs, mostly from iconic French fashion house Louis Vuitton.
She posed for ASOS’s cool cameras, modeled for ELLE, and landed in Vogue.
With 2017 comes three new films for Ms. Lane: The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Shoplifters of the World, and Hunting Lila. This means the year is already going to be quite momentous for the Dallas-born beauty.
Jamie Mizrahi has done an amazing job styling Lane this year. If they continue in this vein, we don’t doubt that she’ll stay atop 2017’s Best Dressed lists.
See everything Sasha wore this year here.
3. Aja Naomi King
We had a date every Thursday night with the actress on How To Get Away With Murder. But she also captivated audiences in The Birth Of A Nation. That meant she took to more red carpet premieres, photocalls, press conferences, and high-fashion parties than ever before.
Everything from bold prints to bodycon silhouettes were on the agenda for King. And naturally, she werked them all.
The California girl is fearless when it comes to fashion: patterns, bold hues, and embellishment were all on her 2016 lineup. alice+olivia, Jonathan Simkhai, Huishan Zhang, and Toni Maticevski were just a few of the brands she donned this year.
We know there’s much more where all of this came from! King doesn’t have any films lined up for 2017 right now, but we expect she’ll land a few magazine covers in 2017. We’re still obsessed with her ELLE cover.
Some front row sightings at NYFW and an ad campaign are what we’re crossing our fingers for.
It’s clear that King is one of the best young actresses in the game and we hope that the fashion industry continues to be on her side in 2017. We cannot wait to see which brands dress her next year.
Never miss a style moment from her by bookmarking this.
4. Hailey Baldwin
The social media star and model is a strong contender in this category this year! Hailey Baldwin truly exploded onto the scene in the style department in 2016.
With the expertise of stylist Maeve Reilly, she smoldered on the red carpet, high-fashion parties, and even off-duty. Baldwin took risks at every turn and was always chic. We definitely copied her looks more than a few times!
She was also a runway fixture— walking in Elie Saab, Prabal Gurung, and Moschino.
Aside from the her catwalk duties, she also had a slew of glossy covers and fashion spreads. Harper’s Bazaar Spain and ELLE France were just two of the many.
She just announced her collaboration with ModelCo, so we can expect more from that partnership in 2017.
Baldwin has worn it all this year: everything from cool brands like Zimmermann and Majorelle to mainstays like Naeem Khan and Zuhair Murad.
We definitely have our eyes on Hailey and who knows: perhaps she’ll be in the running for Fashionista of the Year next year!
Catch all of Hailey’s ensembles here.
5. Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra was on fire this year! She continued her starring role in Quantico and became the latest face of Pantene.
She walked away with Favorite Actress In A New TV Series at the People’s Choice Awards and also became a fashion industry darling—wearing Prabal Gurung, Haider Ackermann, Jason Wu, and Dion Lee with ease.
Chopra graced the covers of Women’s Health, Harper’s Bazaar India, InStyle, Complex, TIME, and ELLE all in one year: no small feat for any actress and a clear indication that the Indian beauty is loved across a number of industries.
Her role in Quantico will continue in 2017 and Chopra is also starring in the much anticipated Baywatch reboot.
There’s truly nothing more that we can ask of Chopra, other than that she continue taking risks. Her new role with Pantene is the brand ambassadorship and campaign we wanted for her.
All of her ensembles and covers are housed here.
So who was your favorite style newcomer of the year?