When Charli XCX dropped her latest single “SS26” and its corresponding video, her Angels were not only gifted with a new song of the summer. They were also left intrigued by the roster of insider-y cameos that appear throughout the Torso-directed project—and then schooled on the names to know in runway fashion, as well as those who create the magic behind the scenes.
The love story between fashion and music is a tale as old as time. We’ve seen designers collaborate with pop stars on runway collections (see: Donatella Versace and Dua Lipa’s La Vacanza range), create tour looks (cue Ariana Grande and her custom Eternal Sunshine pieces from McQueen, Givenchy, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, and more), and supermodels nail starring roles in music videos dating back to the early ’90s. While George Michael’s “Freedom! ’90”—with cameos by Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Cindy Crawford—is likely the first reference that comes to mind, that same year, Iman appeared in Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time?” video, while Stephanie Seymour played the heroine in Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” just two years later.
Moving into the new millennium, fashion cameos remained in the realm of supermodel-dom. In 2003, Kate Moss danced on a stripper pole in The White Stripes’ Sofia Coppola-directed video for “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself,” while Joan Smalls, Jourdan Dunn, and Chanel Iman joined Beyoncé in her 2013 “Yoncé” video, and Karlie Kloss, Martha Hunt, and Cara Delevingne rounded out the coolest girl group ever in Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” video in 2014.
But as we settle into the 2020s, iconic names in music are getting more niche with the talent that they tap to commemorate their latest hits—resulting in music videos that go viral not only for catchy choruses but also for IYKYK appearances by the fashion industry’s elite.
The trend has crested with Charli XCX’s aforementioned “SS26” video, which features countless cameos by iconic names that have dominated media mastheads and top design houses as of late. The YouTube hit opens with the camera on famed editor Carine Roitfeld, who is later seen sitting beside Zadig et Voltaire creative director Dan Sablon, and one seat over from Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello. A few feet away are PR veterans Lucien Pagès, David Siwicki, and August Barron designers Bror August Vestbø and Benjamin Barron. Cast as the front row VIPs that they truly are, they witness Charli walk (and fall on her face) in a glitzy runway show that would undoubtedly go viral on TikTok if it were to happen IRL.
“I think we’re living in a moment where audiences are incredibly media literate,” says author, actress, and media personality Julia Fox, who made her own cameo in the video for Charli’s 2024 chart-topper “360”—and yes, she’s the same Julia that the pop singer references in the song’s “I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia” lyric. Fox mentioned that the “360” experience was memorable and effortless, thanks to Charli, who provided the opportunity for different women to represent something unique while also making sense together. “Artists like Charli understand that fashion isn’t just clothing, it’s language and storytelling,” she says. “Bringing fashion insiders into music projects acknowledges the fact that contemporary pop culture is built collaboratively. The people shaping taste have become characters in the story.”
Anok Yai in Doja Cat’s “Gorgeous” video.RCA Records
Fox isn’t the only fashion insider to check “music video cameo” off their bucket list who feels this way. “Charli and her team know fashion very well,” says Pagès, who jumped at the opportunity to be part of “SS26” despite its being filmed on a bank holiday in Paris. He describes his front row cameo as “quite unusual for me as a PR guy,” but quickly recognizes its impact worldwide. “Fashion is pop culture now. I always say that the fashion show is our rock ‘n’ roll concert. The IYKYK [sensibility] created a buzz on social media and [in] discussions.” Case in point: popular Instagram account @thefashionobserve dubbed the project “LinkedIn for fashion insiders,” adding that the funniest part was “watching major industry figures appear on screen like Avengers.”
The fashion sported in the two-and-a-half-minute video was equally tapped into the current fashion zeitgeist, with Charli sporting looks from fall/winter 2026 collections by Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent, Ann Demeulemeester, Sablon’s Zadig et Voltaire, and Nicola Brognano’s debut outing for 7 For All Mankind. “I think Charli’s evolution these past years has been extremely successful. She embraces fashion and relates to her art in a very contemporary way and with the coolest attitude,” says Brognano. “I was thrilled to know that she picked one of my favorite looks from the runway for her new music video. She best embraces the 7 girl and attitude—I’m a big fan of hers.”
Charli certainly has the right people in her corner (let’s not forget that It girl Gabbriette Bechtel, YouTube sensation Emma Chamberlain, model-of-the-moment Alex Consani, and actress Rachel Sennott also starred in “360” alongside Fox), but she’s not alone in cultivating this IYKYK fashion-meets-music phenomenon. She shares her reign with the bestselling female artist of all time, Madonna, whose short film Confessions II debuted a few weeks after “SS26” premiered. Creative directed and styled by IB Kamara with archival Dolce & Gabbana pieces, Madonna’s latest project was also a Torso-directed production featuring a similarly niche lineup of cameos by Kate Moss, Honey Dijon, Julia Garner, Sabrina Carpenter, and more.
Doja Cat and Lil Uzi Vert offer stiff competition as well with their “Gorgeous” and “What You Saying” videos from 2025. The former was basically a love letter to the highest-ranking names on Models.com—Amelia Gray, Anok Yai, Yseult, Paloma Elsesser, and Ugbad Abdi, to name a few—while the latter featured the rapper channeling the late Karl Lagerfeld (fingerless gloves and all) along with sightings of designer Marc Jacobs (who can also be found on Charli’s Music, Fashion, Film album cover), stylist Law Roach, model Adriana Lima, and fashion editors Dara and Lynn Yaeger.
“Fashion has become less about aspiration and more about cultural authorship. The people being referenced aren’t necessarily there because they’re wearing the most expensive clothes; they’re there because they’ve helped shape the aesthetic conversation,” says Fox. “Being included signals that fashion isn’t operating in a separate lane from music, film, art, or the internet anymore. It’s all one cultural ecosystem. I think in 2026, fashion’s real influence isn’t in telling people what to buy; it’s in helping define how people see themselves and how culture sees itself.”
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