They are revered as spiritual leaders. They are not, on the whole, revered as style leaders.
Yet Robert Francis Prevost – Pope Leo XIV, to you and me – has pulled off an even bigger coup than being the first US pope to lead the world’s 1.4billion Roman Catholics: he has been anointed one of Vogue’s most stylish dressers of 2025.
Vogue’s annual ‘best dressed’ list sees Pope Leo swap bishops and cardinals for the company of men who’d rather sport thigh-high boots than a thurible – including Alexander Skarsgard, 49, the Swedish actor whose fondness for shiny black Loewe boots made headlines this year.
According to US Vogue, it’s been a stellar year for men’s fashion, with 17 men making the 55-strong list, compared with only seven in 2024. New male entries for 2025 include the star of HBO drama Succession Jeremy Strong, 46, Emmy-award-winning actor Colman Domingo, 56, and Timothee Chalamet, 29, who recently donned head to toe orange in an enthusiastic bid to promote his new film, Marty Supreme.
In a list as notable for its diversity as its dress sense, the style bible also honoured a slew of stylish older women too, including Italian designer Miuccia Prada, 76, Australian actress Cate Blanchett, 56, former First Lady Michelle Obama, 61, and Pamela Anderson, 58, the erstwhile Baywatch star who became fashion’s darling after ditching her make-up in 2023.
‘Now, she’s channelling Old Hollywood with vintage silhouettes, [and] loves a monochromatic moment,’ is how Vogue described Anderson’s image change, which this year included dying her trademark blonde hair a divisive red.
Pope Leo XIV, pictured in a Chicago White Sox baseball cap, has been named one of Vogue’s most stylish dressers of 2025
The Pope joined Pamela Anderson, pictured in New York City, on Vogue’s annual ‘best dressed’ list
Other new entries were more predictable than Pope Leo, whose penchant for accessorising his papal garments with a Chicago White Sox baseball cap has improbably propelled him to fashion’s highest echelons. They included actresses Jennifer Lawrence, 35, Jenna Ortega, 23, and Zoe Kravitz, 37, as well as singer Chappell Roan, 27.
Those fretting that US Vogue’s list is woefully absent of stylish Brits can be assuaged by British Vogue’s own list, released moments after its US counterpart’s. Its ’50 Best-Dressed Brits of 2025′ was sub-divided into categories including ‘Eccentrics’ Claudia Winkleman and Richard E Grant, ‘National Treasures’ Mary Berry, Olivia Colman and Neneh Cherry and ‘Music Makers’ Dua Lipa, Lily Allen, Raye and Charli XCX.
Arguably the most prized accolade was kept for the ‘Eternal Influencers’, an elite group of six numbering Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Alexa Chung, Victoria Beckham, Sienna Miller and the Princess of Wales.
‘Any conversation about British style would be incomplete without mention of these women,’ noted the style bible. Aah, but do they wield a baseball cap?