The pop culture moments of 2025 we cannot stop thinking about

I will be completely honest: if someone had told me a year ago that I would become a person who knows every current event happening online or offline, down to every hour and minute, I would not have believed them. Unless it involved politics, activism, or fashion, I was known not only as uninformed, but also as highly delusional, someone who lived in her own microcosm, unburdened by the algorithms of pop culture, crafting her own scenarios and finding out the news seven days later. There was a certain kind of rebellion against the phenomenon of the masses in that. Today, however, I could easily become the most irritating person at the table, the one who, when you tell them you watched a particular film, responds with a stream of information about who worked on the soundtrack, the set design, or the costumes. Or, God forbid, in the middle of a calm evening, completely unprovoked, starts a debate about whether a certain film should have been an Oscar contender, or goes even further, into how Yugoslav cinema represented violence against women. As if I were not already annoying enough.

The past year was a true roller coaster, both on an individual and a collective level, and fashion, culture, and art followed it all: exciting, chaotic, and slightly disorienting. We laughed less than we expected, cried more than we wanted to admit, and viral moments and memes served as brief distractions in an increasingly unbearable world. Katy Perry flew into space, Coldplay divorced two couples, we spent our summers to the sound of Nothing Beats A Jet2 Holiday, while Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got engaged, Rosalía wrapped up a new album, and filming for The Devil Wears Prada 2 came to an end. Without further introduction, below I highlight the 10 best pop culture moments of 2025, which you can recreate this holiday season with perfectly fitting fashion pieces.

Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl

We knew Kendrick Lamar would deliver an unforgettable performance, but we did not expect him to revive Celine bootcut jeans as the key fashion item of the year. It was the most watched Super Bowl halftime show of all time, with 133.5 million viewers, jabs at Drake, and guests such as Serena Williams, SZA, and Samuel L. Jackson. That he had become a fashion icon was clear a few months later, when Chanel named him its ambassador for the year.

Katy Perry in space

This year was so upside down and chaotic that it is easy to forget we sent one of the biggest pop stars of her generation into space. Was it a billion dollar whim designed solely to feed the egos of some of the richest people on the planet? Certainly not. And was it endlessly entertaining to joke for weeks about the 11 minutes during which Katy Perry and her, to put it mildly, “girl squad” spent in some version of space? Absolutely.

Met Gala 2025

The first Monday in May is always significant, but this year’s Met Gala theme, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, felt more important than ever. Among the standout looks on the steps of the Met, the co chair stars stood out above all: A$AP Rocky, accompanied by Rihanna who was, of course, late, Pharrell Williams, Colman Domingo, and Lewis Hamilton. The trend of precise silhouettes and impeccable tailoring only further cemented its timeless fashion status.

The return of Lady Gaga

The year was marked by Lady Gaga’s new album and her return to a European tour with the Mayhem Ball, during which she drew enormous attention, from a record breaking performance on Copacabana beach that reportedly gathered more than two million people, to additional dates announced due to overwhelming fan demand, as well as spectacular costumes, including designs by Dilara Findikoglu, staging, and choreography. If, like me, you did not manage to secure your ticket, rumors suggest that Lady Gaga will continue at the same pace in 2026. There is your second chance for a once in a lifetime spectacle worth experiencing, ideally from the fan pit.

Nothing Beats A Jet2 Holiday

Suitcases floating in the sea. Mice running through hotels. A man lying on a deck chair while rain soaks him to the skin. We have all seen, if not personally experienced, those vacation fail scenes on TikTok, accompanied by the Jet2Holidays jingle. And there you have it, the company reported a record number of passengers this year, attributing part of that success to the viral social media trend. Let the winter season help you forget that bitter taste of summer and travel to the seaside again. Maybe we will run into each other at the gate

Labubu mania

Where were you when you saw your first Labubu? At the beginning of spring, small charms began hanging from bags and keychains, quickly going viral on TikTok. Created a decade ago by artist Kasing Lung as part of the illustrated book series The Monsters, Labubus entered the pop culture vocabulary through celebrities, including Lisa from Blackpink and Naomi Osaka, who began wearing charms Lung designed in collaboration with the Chinese toy company Pop Mart. You know what comes next, right? Labubus on the big screen. Sony Pictures has already acquired the film rights.

The filming of The Devil Wears Prada 2

It feels as though we have already seen the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, considering how viral its filming in New York became. The scene in which Miranda Priestly and Anna Wintour sit across from each other at a Dolce & Gabbana show literally sent us into a trance. Truth be told, this film was once a window into the world of fashion, and today, when almost everything is served up on a platter, the main question is whether, after twenty years, it will manage to reach the same level of quality and excitement. The trailer is out, and we are more than ready to see Andy return as our main heroine in 2026. P.S. Miranda is, as always, styled better.

Sharon Stone on the cover of Vogue Adria

The legendary actress graced the cover of Vogue Adria in June. A woman who, from Basic Instinct through Casino to Diabolique, does not stand behind a man but beside him, if not a step ahead, can be nothing less than powerful. We asked her how she understands that word and what it means to her to be a powerful woman. “To have the ability to remain authentically yourself, no matter what is happening. To make decisions, even in the darkest moments, that affirm your integrity. To stay true to yourself and make the best possible, the gentlest possible choice. The process may take longer, but it is worth it because there is a difference between happiness and momentary satisfaction. Happiness is long lasting, when you make choices for the long run. I am Voltairean in my commitment to that. It takes a lot of courage to remain happy… I think that if we did this as humanity, we would create a wonderful world. It requires a great deal of courage, even more discipline, and an enormous amount of focus to stay happy. But it is worth it. I do this every day. Every day I decide again to get up, to fight, even when I truly do not want to and when I do not feel I have the strength for it. Every day. But persistently, I prove to myself that I can and that I am getting better and better.”

Rosalia’s Berghain

Berghain is not the song of the year, but of the decade. Overnight, reactions from the audience, her collaborators, and colleagues listening to this musical spectacle performed with the London Symphony Orchestra went viral, and it was only an announcement of what was to come: an album in which she sings in as many as 13 languages, brings classical music back into the mainstream, and collaborates with stars such as Björk and Yves Tumor. Months earlier, from the Vanity Fair party and the Met Gala to street style, Rosalía wore exclusively white, airy, ethereal dresses reminiscent of church garments, foreshadowing her new spiritual era. Yes, we are still obsessed.

The Pedro Pascal obsession

When he appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair in July, the cover line summed it all up: Everyone wants a piece of Pedro Pascal. The obsession with Pedro Pascal in 2025 was driven by his status as an internet daddy, shaped by a combination of roles in The Last of Us, blockbusters such as Gladiator II, Eddington, and the recent Materialists, as well as his real life qualities: empathy, charm, and healthy masculine energy. His constant viral moments most often come from the red carpet, just think of Cannes, and his fashion expression is an impeccable reflection of his bold, charming, and free spirited character. If anyone was a cultural phenomenon this year, it was Pedro.