From Kendall Jenner to Bella Hadid and Hailey Bieber, street style beats red carpet when it comes to fashion inspiration, stylists say

Celebrities are increasingly aware that what they wear every day is just as important – if not more – for setting trends than what they wear on the red carpet

Photos of Rihanna going to dinner ‘are better than most red carpet looks’, one stylist says. It's the everyday looks stars wear that drives sales, another says

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How celebrities like Lady Gaga (here in Valentino in August, 2021) and influencers dress when on the streets is as important as what they wear on the red carpet. Photo: Splash News

Published: 6:45pm, 23 Aug 2021Updated: 6:45pm, 23 Aug 2021

For proof that the street is the real catwalk, it’s quite impossible to beat Lady Gaga. Earlier in August, the singer and actress (soon to appear in the hotly anticipated House of Gucci) descended the steps of Radio City Hall in New York wearing a sculptural purple cape from Valentino’s autumn 2021 couture collection.

There to perform with jazz maestro Tony Bennett, Gaga paired the cape with a matching hat featuring a plumage of feathers, yellow gloves and oversized reflective shades. The look was pure, OTT high-fashion catnip and an extreme example of a shift in the way we think about celebrity fashion.

Granted, we’ve just had 18 months with very few events and – with mainly digital fashion shows – less opportunity for street-style peacocking. But how celebrities and the fashion set dress when snapped on their morning coffee run or posting to their Instagram story feels as important as the couture gown they might wear on a red carpet.

Take a recent photo of Rihanna: the singer (and freshly minted billionaire) was snapped carrying a brown paper bag of groceries while wearing a blousy silk shirt, denim shorts and heels. The look was so good, it prompted super stylist Harry Lambert (whose clients include Harry Styles and The Crown star Emma Corrin) to tweet: “Rihanna is a fashion icon! Photos of her going to dinner are better than most red carpet looks!”).

Rihanna was recently snapped carrying a brown paper bag of groceries while wearing a silk shirt, denim shorts and heels. Photo: GC Images

Not long after that, Rihanna went on another grocery run in a vintage Chanel jacket accessorised with strands of pearls and a baseball cap.