The 11 Best 2025 BAFTAs Red Carpet Looks Shift Awards Season Into High-Fashion Gear

Going into the 2025 BAFTAs (British Film Awards), I knew the red carpet's best-dressed list would miss one of its brightest stars: Kate Middleton, who went on a Caribbean vacation instead of attending this year's ceremony. There wasn't much time to miss the royal and her lineup of dazzling gowns as she took her well-deserved trip, however. Selena Gomez immediately lit up the Feb. 16 carpet in a custom Schiaparelli dress matching her engagement ring, and Cynthia Erivo payed homage to her Wicked costar Ariana Grande in Louis Vuitton minutes later. By the time all the evening's guests had filed into London's Royal Festival Hall, I couldn't think about who skipped the carpet, because there was so much fashion to enjoy in the now.

Quite simply, the 11 best-dressed stars at the 2025 BAFTAs red carpet majorly leveled up from last week's Critics' Choice Awards. While many of the evening's biggest designers overlapped with the recent carpet—Louis Vuitton, Prada, Chanel, and Giorgio Armani were in heavy rotation once again—the overall spirit leaned even harder into the upscale glamour that's typically saved for the Academy Awards in March. There were over-the-shoulder shawls and head-to-toe embellishments; several looks were custom couture, instead of the usual pulls from a recent runway collection. The ceremony may have been held in London, but it felt like Old Hollywood.

Read on to see the best looks from the 2025 BAFTAs red carpet—and one noteworthy outfit that snuck in after the show began.

Selena Gomez wearing custom Schiaparelli Couture

Selena Gomez manifested more than her megawatt engagement ring when she called herself a "marquise diamond" on the 2015 hit "Good for You." She also teed up the reference for her shimmering 2025 BAFTAs red carpet gown, a custom Schiaparelli couture dress dripping with crystals to match her sparkler (plus even more archival diamonds from Tiffany Co.). Stylist Erin Walsh smartly let the dress remain the center of attention here, leaving Gomez's neckline bare and sweeping her hair into a clean, low bun. (The better to keep all eyes on those rows and rows of crystals.) Maybe Gomez can teach her close friend Taylor Swift something about looking "Bejeweled."

Saoirse Ronan wearing custom Louis Vuitton

Saoirse Ronan and stylist Danielle Goldberg have taken a subdued—and refreshing—approach to method dressing this awards season. The biggest nod they'll make to Ronan's character in her drama The Outrun is a splash of blue, referencing her character's dip-dyed hair in the film. For the 2025 BAFTAs red carpet, the two landed on an icy blue Louis Vuitton gown with a sculpted neckline and coordinating wrap with a glossy finish. It's just enough of a wink at the nominated project without feeling overly tied to the film; years from now, it'll look simply timeless.

Cynthia Erivo wearing custom Louis Vuitton

Cynthia Erivo seemed to be holding space for her close friend Ariana Grande on the 2025 BAFTAs red carpet—and that's why this best-dressed list is holding space for her. She and stylist Jason Bolden consulted Louis Vuitton for a white lace gown with an exaggerated bodice that nearly grazed her chin and dainty, all-over lace. The piece was a close cousin of a similarly sculptural gown Ariana Grande wore on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year—though hers was designed by Schiaparelli and had even more exaggerated proportions. The two have been inseparable throughout awards season and have a second press tour for Wicked: For Good on the horizon, so expect this to be the start of references to one another on the carpet. Friends who dress together, stay together.

Demi Moore wearing custom McQueen

Demi Moore and stylist Brad Goreski paid homage to Moore's performance as Elizabeth Sparkle in one of the 2025 BAFTAs most iced-out ensembles. She paired a custom McQueen gown that shimmered like stained glass to a coordinating clutch and De Beers jewelry. Note the splashes of bold primary colors like yellow, red, and blue throughout the mostly silver gown—those also appear to be nods to the saturated hues Moore wears onscreen throughoutThe Substance.

Pamela Anderson wearing Jacquemus

Jacquemus tapped all sorts of modeling legends to walk the Spring 2025 runway—so it's only fitting a Hollywood legend wore the collection off the runway first. Anderson, styling herself like the icon she is, wore this gown in a manner that could have shut down the original catwalk with one glittering upgrade. Where the initial styling came with a banana-yellow bag, Anderson swapped in a glittering diamond choker for added red carpet glamour. (It's most likely from Pandora; she's an ambassador for the Danish jewelry label.)

Monica Barbaro wearing Armani Privé Couture

When Armani Privé debuted its Spring/Summer 2025 Couture collection, my social media feed flooded with heart-eye emojis. When Monica Barbaro took this draped sequin dress off the runway and onto the 2025 BAFTAs red carpet, the response doubled in praise. She and stylist Jeanann Williams might have left the original look's sequin headdress behind, but the nearly-naked halter gown didn't need more than its own embellishments to shine.

Lupita Nyong'o wearing Chanel

I knew Lupita Nyong'o would have a lot of Chanel red carpet looks ahead of her this awards season. Just before the slate of shows kicked off, she was named a brand-new ambassador to the house. She and longtime stylist Micaela Erlanger have found ways to keep fans excited even when they know the credits: first with a tulle-overlay floral dress at the 2025 Critics' Choice Awards, and now with a subversive remix of a tuxedo at the BAFTAs. This dress cleverly replaces a traditional bowtie with a more coquette ribbon and ditches trousers entirely for a tulle ballgown skirt set with a cummerbund.

Mikey Madison wearing custom Prada

Mikey Madison's Anora red carpet outfits are a gift that keeps on giving for fashion lovers. For the 2025 BAFTAs red carpet, she and stylist Jamie Mizrahi capitalized on increasing "Best Actress" award energy with her podium-appropriate strapless gown and coordinating shawl, custom-made by Prada. It's a bit more subdued than the molten gold Bottega Veneta she wore to the 2025 Golden Globes, but make no mistake—there's a bit of bling that Ani of Anora fame would appreciate here, too. At the back, her floor-grazing shawl is secured with two gigantic gems under either shoulder.

Letitia Wright wearing custom Prada

Letitia Wright and Miuccia Prada have worked closely together ever since the former's first red carpets for Black Panther. Their partnership is nowhere close to reaching its expiration date, as the actor's look landing on our 2025 BAFTAs best-dressed list proves. Exquisitely tailored with a bateau neckline, this dress has a bit of a surprise in store: When Wright turns around, it features a black bow threaded with silver resembling starlight. It's clear this duo understands what Wright is comfortable wearing and what will stand out—not because it's over the top, but because it shows chic restraint.

Ariana Grande wearing custom Louis Vuitton

Ariana Grande didn't just share her recent Hollywood Reporter cover as a reference for Wicked costar Cynthia Erivo; it appears the duo also split the same designer for their big evening in London. Louis Vuitton once again created Grande's custom dress for the evening, just like Erivo—but the similarities stopped there. Grande and her stylist, Mimi Cuttrell, eschewed bridal white for a confectionary gown combining a plunging, blackless black top and a tiered, Glinda-pink skirt.

Like her previous custom Louis Vuitton moment at the Palm Springs Film Awards, Grande's BAFTAs dress dialed up the volume with an exaggeratedly large skirt. It's a fitting nod to her character's bubbly ballgowns onscreen—except she's walking the carpet instead of drifting back up into the clouds.

Kylie Jenner wearing a backless black gown

While Kylie Jenner's 2025 BAFTAs look didn't technically walk the red carpet, it's worth calling out here. How could she possibly avoid the spotlight in what is most likely a vintage dress, set with asymmetric beaded embellishments and a sexy, semi-sheer skirt?

The piece marks two times in a single weekend that Jenner has skipped the step-and-repeat to join Timothée Chalamet inside an event honoring his turn as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. And just like the all-over sequin gown she wore for their Valentine's Day premiere date in Berlin, this one couldn't possibly have flown under the radar for long.