The 23 Biggest Fashion Moments of 2016

For his final Saint Laurent collection, Hedi Slimane made quite the mark. The designer staged his own couture show for Fall 2016 in Paris at an 18th-century house on the Rue de l'Université. The collection looked to the 1980s couture scene for inspiration, featuring plunging dresses, strong-shouldered silhouettes, triangular earrings and a show-stopping red heart fur coat that became the standout piece of the collection and was later worn by Rihanna. For Slimane, it was the ultimate way to end his four-year tenure at the fashion house with impact.

Streetwear hit its peak this year as the reining winner of the street style scene. From Vetements to Off-White, there was an influx of sweatshirts reading "May The Bridges I Burn Like The Way" and "You Fuck'n Asshole" making an appearance at almost every fashion event of the year. Let's not forget the craze of Vetements' DHL T-shirts, either.

The rise of see-now, buy-now runways completely shook up the Fashion Week calendar. An increasing number of designers—from Ralph Lauren and Tom Ford to Rebecca Minkoff and Tommy Hilfiger—opted to show current in-season collections that were ready to shop right from the runway, creating a seismic shift in the industry as a whole.

Karl Lagerfeld kissed Cuba's travel sanctions goodbye with a bang. The designer took Chanel's Cruise 2017 collection to the island and staged a runway show along Havana's Paseo del Prado. Lagerfeld brought a fashion flock of 700 with him, including the likes of Gisele Bundchen, Kendall Jenner, Tilda Swinton and more. The historic runway event debuted a collection inspired by Cuban culture from dresses printed with vintage cars to bright colors, sequin berets and tees reading 'Viva Coco Libre!'

After acting as co-creative directors of Valentino since 2007, Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri went their separate ways when Chiuri exited the fashion house in July. Together, the power design couple revitalized Valentino after founder Valentino Garavani stepped down in 2007. The pair showed their final joint Haute Couture collection, inspired by Shakespearean era style, in July before the devastating fashion breakup was announced and Chiuri was confirmed as the new creative director at Dior while Piccioli stayed on as the sole creative director at Valentino.

The designers' breakup was bittersweet, however, seeing as each went on to deliver show-stopping solo collections for both Valentino and Dior. Chiuri made history as the first-ever female creative director at Dior in the fashion house's 70-year history. For her debut Spring 2017 collection, Chiuri made the ultimate girl-power statement with T-shirts reading "We Should All Be Feminists" and "Dio(r)evolution" sprinkled into the looks. It was clear that the new Dior would be ultra-feminine and ultra-proud of the fact. Meanwhile at Valentino, Piccioli unveiled his first solo collection for the house with a whopping 64 looks which earned him a standing ovation. The collection featured a series of pink and red looks along with show-stopping daywear and handkerchief-hemmed dresses that won over the fashion crowd immediately—proving some breakups really are for the best.

Prince George caused a frenzy when he made a legendary style statement and wore a white terry-cloth bathrobe for a formal meeting with President Obama—winning the cutest fashion moment of the year, hands down. After spending years ogling Kate Middleton's looks, the royal tot made it clear that he's the real style contender of the family.

Kanye West created quite the spectacle at New York Fashion Week—but not exactly in the best way. The rapper/designer boarded industry insiders on an hour-long bus ride to an unknown show location, which turned out to be Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island. Much like his past shows, models stood in tactical formation wearing spandex-like looks—this season, however, they stood on a field with the Manhattan skyline in the background. Teyana Taylor, Chanel Iman, Sofia Richie, Amina Blue and more walked the show which ended up being an hours-long project resulting in a few models fainting on the field due to heat and dehydration. It certainly got people talking, though...

Leave it to three-year-old North West to wear a slip dress better than anyone else in 2016. The daughter of Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West reigned as the youngest style star of the year—stepping out in furry slides, velvet slip dresses, Yeezy boosts, logo tees and plenty of fur coats.

In the biggest fashion collaboration of the year, Tommy Hilfiger tapped It model-of-the-moment Gigi Hadid for a blowout see-now, buy-now collection. The duo's collab came to life at New York Fashion Week in September with a huge carnival spectacle dubbed 'Tommy Pier' on South Street Seaport. With 700 attendees in tow and A-list appearances from Gigi's BFF Taylor Swift and more, the show was ready to shop immediately after the runway ended. After the brand saw major success from the show—a 900 percent increase in website traffic and double-digit growth in both retail and e-commerce performance—a second collaboration show was announced for February 2017, this time taking place in Los Angeles.

As if Rihanna's Fenty Puma creepers and furry slides didn't dominate 2016 themselves, the singer/designer also headed to Paris to stage her second Puma collection. Making her Paris Fashion Week debut, she unveiled a collection inspired by "Marie Antoinette if she went to the gym" as only Bad Gal Riri could do. For her runway bow, she wore a pink lace suit, pearl choker and Puma fan—reminding us all of her style icon status.

Though there was too much at stake during the 2016 presidential election to discuss fashion, we couldn't help but notice the subtle theme of Hillary Clinton's debate night looks. The Queen of Pantsuits didn't stick to the "Democratic blue" dress code but instead opted for a more patriotic theme by wearing a red suit, a white suit and a blue suit to each of the debates. The Democratic candidate's winning suits were all by American designer Ralph Lauren.

From The Life of Pablo merch to Justin Bieber's Purpose Tour and even Kim Kardashian West launching her own, tour merchandise was inescapable this year. The trend dominated not only the street style scene but pretty much everywhere as the year's biggest trend that nobody could have predicted.