PARIS (AP) — If any force dominated the global fashion industry this season — eclipsing fabric, form and even the wildest silhouettes — it was the spectacle of celebrity.
In a year marked by global anxiety and a hunger for fantasy, star power flooded Paris Fashion Week, turning runways into gladiator arenas where A-list icons, K-pop idols and digital megastars became the main event.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z didn’t just attend Louis Vuitton’s blockbuster show — they became the show.
As they swept into the Pompidou Center, cameras flashed and phones shot skyward. Before the first look even hit the runway, images of the couple ricocheted across the globe. K-pop idols like J-Hope and Jackson Wang livestreamed their arrival to millions, while crowds outside flooded social feeds with every glimpse of a star.
As the industry’s spring season wraps up Sunday, it’s clear: Fashion’s global audience is focused less on what’s worn and more on who’s wearing it.
This interplay between celebrity and fashion is hardly new, but in 2025, the desire for escapism and star-driven spectacle is peaking like never before.
“It’s about celebrity clickbait, and it’s at a tipping point now. Celebrities have replaced the designers and stylists as the tastemakers,” said Anna Barr, a fashion magazine editor who attended shows.
Beyoncé's appearance this week encapsulated a truth that every major brand — from Louis Vuitton to Dior, Hermès to Saint Laurent — now understands: The real front row isn’t in Paris, but on Instagram, TikTok and Weibo. And nothing sells quite like a star.
The pop star’s head-to-toe denim — custom Louis Vuitton by Pharrell Williams — wasn’t just viral.
Within 24 hours, clips of her arrival amassed millions of views on TikTok, outpacing even Louis Vuitton’s own campaign content. When Williams presented her with a Speedy bag straight from the runway in the Paris dusk, the moment went viral — underlining that Beyoncé isn’t just an attendee, but a face of Louis Vuitton’s creative vision.
But even as Beyoncé’s look became the week’s most shared image, her presence in Paris also sparked debate: a Buffalo Soldiers T-shirt she wore during her “Cowboy Carter” tour ignited criticism from some Indigenous and Mexican communities, reminding the industry that every viral moment can be a flash point.
This is the new dynamic of luxury: The most coveted runway seat is now in your hand, and what matters most isn't just what you see, but who you see wearing it.
What once was a private preview for buyers and editors is now a worldwide entertainment event.
Designers don’t just stage shows — they produce spectacles. Williams, Louis Vuitton’s showman-in-chief, turned his runway into a snakes-and-ladders fantasy with a guest list to match: Beyoncé, Jay-Z, K-pop royalty J-Hope and Jackson Wang, reggaeton star Karol G, and Hollywood names like Bradley Cooper and Mason Thames.
Each arrival triggered waves of posts and stories — making the crowd as newsworthy as the collection itself.
The modern runway has become a stage for celebrity, where the applause is measured in views and viral moments, and the line between performer and spectator disappears.
No other force is shifting menswear trends faster than K-pop. This season, stars like J-Hope, Jackson Wang, GOT7’s Bambam, and NCT’s Yuta were everywhere, livestreaming shows and igniting fashion frenzies from Seoul to Sao Paulo.
These idols are both tastemakers and trend translators, instantly transmitting what they see in Paris to millions of fans. Their attendance has become a commercial event in itself, driving the adoption of new styles on a global scale.
Even the clothes themselves now chase celebrity.
Beyoncé’s “ Cowboy Carter ” moment and Louis Vuitton’s nod to Western style sent cowboy hats, flared denim, and rhinestone shirts trending worldwide. Brands scramble to turn these viral moments into wearable trends — knowing that what Queen Bey wears in Paris will be copied in malls and on apps within weeks.
“We make fashion, but we’re a house of travel,” Williams told reporters. In truth, it’s the celebrity’s journey through fashion that matters most.
The old fashion cycle is gone. It's been said before. Where trends once took months to trickle down, now a celebrity-worn look can reach the high street soon after the show lights dim.
TikTok and fast fashion brands move at the speed of the repost. At Hermès, even the discreet luxury of woven leather tees and wide trousers took on new meaning as athletes and music stars documented their attendance. Their posts quickly turn exclusive details into mass-market “must-haves.”
Shein and Temu, the global fast-fashion juggernauts, have weaponized the viral moment — turning celebrity sightings into shoppable trends worldwide, sometimes in a matter of hours. The result: What debuts on the Paris catwalk can show up in online shopping carts from Atlanta to Addis Ababa almost instantly.
Beneath the celebrity glow, classic trends endure. Streetwear is still king, with oversized silhouettes, soft tailoring and activewear influences everywhere from Dior to Dolce & Gabbana.
The Hermès “cool city guy” and Dolce’s pajama dressing — rumpled but rich — are direct answers to how men want to live and move now. But even these trends go mainstream through star power, not just design. The models might debut the look, but it’s the front-row faces who make it stick.
The celebrity ascendancy isn’t just a front-row phenomenon — it’s woven into the industry itself. When LVMH ’s Bernard Arnault tapped Williams, a global pop icon, to lead Louis Vuitton menswear in 2023, it wasn’t just a creative risk. It was a declaration that celebrity now runs the show.
All this spectacle reflects a bigger shift. Fashion isn’t just about what’s in — it’s about who’s in the room, and who’s watching. At Armani in Milan, at Saint Laurent in Paris, at every show, a galaxy of K-pop, Hollywood, and music stars now drive the narrative.
For Gen Z and Alpha, the runway is no longer about aspiration — it’s about participation, sharing, and living in the moment. The “show” has become the product.
In 2025, the hottest look in men’s fashion isn’t a garment — it’s the spectacle. In the world’s most-watched runway season, celebrity is the new couture, and every scroll puts you in the front row.
Pharrell Williams attends Dior Homme Spring-Summer 2026 collection, that was presented in Paris Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Beyonce, center, attends the men's Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2026 collection, that was presented in Paris, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.
In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.
Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.
Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.
But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.
More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.
The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.
“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”
Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.
People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.
More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .
“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.
The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.
Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.
While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.
“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."
The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.
Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”
"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.
Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”
The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.
Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.
A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
