The days of Addison Rae in cropped sweats and impromptu TikTok dances are firmly behind her. In their place stands a young woman with a growing command of fashion’s visual language and the industry buy-in to back it up. Rae, a Louisiana native, has cultivated a personal style rooted in theatricality and nostalgia, yet executed with surprising control. On red carpets and stages alike, she vacillates between pop star glamour and character-driven fashion. There was the “Swan Lake meets Vegas showgirl” moment at the MTV VMAs, followed by a mermaid-inspired Thom Browne ensemble at the CFDA Awards. With the guidance of stylist Dara Allen, Rae has embraced a wardrobe composed of archival treasures and directional young designers, each look a visual story unto itself.
Rae’s fashion moments are rarely accidental. At one event she channeled a contemporary ballerina in a white Chloé bodysuit; at another, she revisited Y2K tropes with low-slung denim and a rhinestone bra evocative of Britney Spears. “The premise was to capture a feeling,” Allen explained of the VMAs look, citing icons like Madonna and Britney as the blueprint. It’s clear that Rae is not just dressing up—she is actively participating in the fashion narrative. Her choices have become a form of performance, with intention and self-awareness built into every look.
The March 2025 cover of Vogue France was the most explicit endorsement of Rae’s evolution to date. Shot by Mario Sorrenti and styled by Alastair McKimm, the feature cast Rae in a Debbie Harry-inspired story, further cementing her place in the fashion conversation. The Vogue cover wasn’t an anomaly; it marked the culmination of a steady editorial ascent, beginning with POP Magazine and evolving through titles like Perfect and CR Fashion Book, where she increasingly embraced concept-driven, high-fashion narratives.
Even her off-duty style has evolved. One of her most talked-about moments found Rae stepping out of New York’s Bowery Hotel in a plush white bathrobe—an unconventional choice that instantly commanded attention. She paired the robe’s soft, luxe silhouette with heeled sandals, highlighting a subtle glamour beneath the laid-back façade. Oversized sunglasses and loose waves added to the allure, blurring the line between last-minute errand run and editorial photo shoot. Emphasizing her talent for “method dressing,” this seemingly spontaneous exit became a compelling extension of her signature aesthetic. As candid and curated continue to blend seamlessly, Rae’s street style remains a captivating conversation starter garnering as much buzz as her red-carpet appearances.
This evolution has also paid off commercially. In late 2024, Marc Jacobs tapped Rae to front the label’s collaboration with Vaquera, casting her as a porcelain muse for the revival of the iconic Stam bag. Around the same time, Saint Laurent included Rae in its holiday campaign film series directed by Nadia Lee Cohen, inspired by the writings of Marcel Proust. Alongside established figures like Chloë Sevigny and John Waters, Rae held her own. That she could stand comfortably in such company was no accident—creative director Anthony Vaccarello recognized a cultural fluency in Rae that extends beyond her online fame.
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Rae’s ascent is how organic it has felt. Rather than disavow her TikTok origins, she built on them, trading in viral dances for visual storytelling. She hasn’t tried to erase her past; she’s rewritten it in high fashion. She cites early-2000s pop culture as part of her creative DNA, and her sartorial choices reflect that. Her fashion journey is not about transformation, but about expansion—of taste, of references, of possibility.
Her credibility is now measured by proximity not to internet fame, but to fashion’s inner circle. By early 2025, she had graced multiple covers, fronted luxury campaigns, and experimented with aesthetic themes that felt intentional rather than engineered. Reinvention, for her, has never been about departure. It’s about evolution. And fashion, increasingly, seems ready to meet her where she is. With figures like Alex Consani also making the leap from TikTok virality to runway regular, the industry may be witnessing the rise of a new kind of muse—fluent in both algorithms and allure. Whether this shift proves fleeting or foundational is still unfolding, but one thing is clear—Addison Rae didn’t just enter fashion. She’s helped change its entry point.
