Dissecting the HBO star-turned-fashion-icon pipeline
And I'm not complaining.
It’s safe to say that once you’re on a beloved HBO series, the world is your oyster after that.
For a hot moment, time and time again, we all rally behind one particular show and obsess over the plot, characters, and out-of-office content they give us in the cultural zeitgeist, whether it’s an award show, public appearance, or most recently; fashion shows.
Celebrities being invited to fashion shows is a post-2010’s phenomenon. What used to be just A-listers such as Oscar-award winning actresses or dear friends of designers has turned into anyone—like the influencer who lives down the street from you—or (and especially) breakout stars of shows like The White Lotus, Euphoria, and more.
We fell in love with shows such as The White Lotus and Euphoria during quarantine, making these young actors like Sydney Sweeney and Alexa Demie who were pretty under the radar before into superstars. Alas, they were superstars with nowhere to go because the world was on lockdown, and superstars who had everyone on the edge of their seats for season 2.
However, once lockdown was over and those additional seasons arrived, they seemed to be anywhere and everywhere that was cool to be.
I’ve talked about this a lot, but these are the types of shows that make you feel like the entire world is behind them. You feel as though you’re watching with everyone you know, furiously texting about anything that happens and refreshing your feed rapidly for an Evan Ross Katz meme to repost on your story.
The love for these characters transcended beyond just on social media. The fashion industry has welcomed these gen-z-beloved into their shows, campaigns and beyond, bringing the people we know and love on-screen into the real world.
For me, the takeover really started with Chloe Cherry, who played Faye in Euphoria season 2. The former pornographic actress-turned fashion mogul first made her runway debut at LaQuan Smith in New York during February 2022, almost a year ago today. Since then, she’s walked for brands like Blumarine and GCDS, curated a collection for Grailed, and starred in campaigns for MAC Cosmetics, Maison Kitsune and more.
Her co-star, Alexa Demie, is perhaps another notable actress-turned-fashion icon. Working most frequently with B*lenciaga, Demie has starred in their Autumn/Winter 2022 campaign, been to nearly every show in the past few seasons, and was never seen on the streets without some sort of Demna-designed accessory.
My most recent obsession has fallen with The White Lotus season 2 cast. Besides providing me with non-stop entertainment for those few magical Sundays at the end of 2022, they’ve truly proven to be cultural icons that provide nonstop content.
One of the most iconic campaign moments in my humble opinion happened this week, with the girls known as Lucia and Mia on screen (Beatrice and Simona in real life) starring in the SKIMS 2023 Valentine’s Day campaign, having everyone on Instagram losing their minds (and setting alarms for the collection to drop). As a Kim Kardashian apologist, we all knew that I was going to eat this up. However, I firmly believe that you can say what you want about her, besides the undeniable fact that she knows how to MAR-KET (and she uses her massive SKIMS budget to do so).
All of these events and appearances have me begging the question—why are we so obsessed with these specific actors? What is it about them that brings them above and beyond just being in an ensemble cast on a streaming service?
I would argue that there’s nothing like an HBOMax series. From Big Little Lies to Succession, the quality of the acting, plot, set design and beyond is just unbeatable. The younger casts attract that gen-z obsession that brands are dying for these days, creating moments for themselves to utilize as a gateway to new customers, viral things to be reacted to on Instagram and TikTok, thus being recognized in the world of pop culture (even if it’s just a millisecond).
These are my favorite types of stars. The ones who keep me entertained week in and week out, but also serve on the streets for me to lose my mind over. They leave us begging for more episodes, but in the meantime, giving us the content we need to survive.
Send this to someone who has never seen any HBO show and has absolutely no idea what I’m talking about (but what’s new).