Television as the New Runway: What It Means for Fashion and Talent

Awards season has always been a playground for fashion. The red carpet provides brands with a rare, global spotlight — a chance to showcase creativity and align themselves with cultural moments. Traditionally, it’s been the Oscars or Cannes that mattered most. But the 2025 Emmys showed something different: television has become the stage where fashion finds its new audience.

For brands, this is more than just a change in backdrop. It’s a signal of where influence now sits — and what kind of talent is needed inside businesses to capture it.

Fashion’s New Spotlight: Why TV Matters More Than Ever

The shift towards television isn’t overnight. Streaming platforms like Netflix, Apple TV and HBO have transformed the way audiences consume content. Viewers don’t just dip into a two-hour film; they spend weeks, sometimes years, following series and building strong connections to characters and the actors who play them.

This deeper emotional investment is exactly what fashion brands want to tap into. Dressing a star in a blockbuster film creates a spike of attention, but aligning with a beloved TV character can generate sustained engagement. Think about Zendaya in Euphoria or Jenna Ortega in Wednesday — the ripple effect on fashion and beauty trends was instant, wide-reaching, and long-lasting.

At the Emmys, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, and Armani all leaned into this cultural shift, dressing television actors with the same care once reserved for film stars. Meanwhile, designers like Rosie Assoulin, Danielle Frankel and Wiederhoeft used the opportunity to catapult themselves into the spotlight. Even Gap, not usually associated with luxury moments, seized attention by placing its new high-end line on Owen Cooper.

The message is clear: if audiences are watching, fashion is dressing.

What This Means for Fashion Brands

Television’s influence creates both opportunity and pressure. Different tiers of the sector stand to benefit in distinct ways:

Luxury houses like Louis Vuitton and Valentino can reinforce their dominance by attaching themselves to stars with ongoing cultural relevance. Rather than one-off press hits, they’re investing in visibility that evolves as series gain traction across seasons.
High-street names like Gap or Mango have the chance to reposition themselves. By associating with recognisable faces in fresh, elevated contexts, they can reset perceptions of brand value and target aspirational consumers without abandoning their accessibility.
Independent designers stand to gain the most. A strategic placement on the right star at the right time can make a label overnight. The Emmys showed how smaller names like Wiederhoeft and Danielle Frankel can move from niche to mainstream cultural awareness almost instantly.

This isn’t about red-carpet glamour alone. It’s about storytelling at scale. Fashion houses now need to build brand narratives that play out not only in magazines and catwalk shows but also through the screens audiences binge daily.

The Talent Shift Behind the Spotlight

This cultural pivot demands more than clever PR. It requires talent inside fashion businesses who understand how to translate influence into growth.

Marketing and PR leaders must rethink timelines. Campaigns now need to align with release schedules, streaming drops, and multi-season arcs, not just seasonal fashion calendars.
Creative directors have to see partnerships with TV as part of the brand identity, not an afterthought. Dressing a star has to feel consistent with the house’s DNA, not opportunistic.
Brand and partnership teams will be expected to negotiate relationships that go beyond single events, creating longer-term collaborations with actors who resonate with audiences.
Digital and social teams are increasingly central. As audiences spot looks on the red carpet, they move instantly to Instagram, TikTok and e-commerce to replicate them. Teams who can capitalise on this immediacy are the ones who will convert buzz into sales.

The upshot: fashion brands need people who can bridge creative vision with cultural strategy, moving at the pace of streaming platforms, not just traditional retail cycles.

Case Studies: Lessons From the Red Carpet

Louis Vuitton: Consistency and Scale

Louis Vuitton’s presence at awards shows isn’t new, but what’s changing is how it aligns with television stars specifically. Dressing actors who have multi-season visibility offers the brand long-tail engagement. It’s not just about one night; it’s about being stitched into the cultural conversation every time that actor appears on screen.

Gap: Reframing Identity

For Gap, the Emmys placement was bold. Known primarily for basics and mid-market positioning, putting its new premium line in front of a fashion-conscious audience was a clear signal: the brand wants to be seen differently. That takes not only clever marketing but also in-house teams capable of repositioning a heritage business for a new era.

Independent Designers: The Power of Timing

For Rosie Assoulin or Danielle Frankel, these moments are catalytic. Dressing an Emmy winner or nominee catapults them from insider-favourite to household name. For these designers, it’s less about global ad spend and more about the agility of their teams — PR leads, stylists, and business developers who can seize momentum quickly.

UK Brands in the Mix

While much of the Emmys focus is on US designers, UK brands have long understood the cultural power of television. Burberry, for instance, has leaned heavily on film and screen partnerships in its campaigns, and it’s only a matter of time before more British names cement themselves in the TV conversation. Selfridges, meanwhile, has been quick to spotlight streaming-linked trends through pop-ups and curated edits.

For UK fashion businesses, this global shift creates fresh hiring priorities. Leaders who understand how to marry heritage with cultural immediacy are now in demand, whether that’s in-house creative talent or external PR and brand partnership specialists.

The Bigger Picture: Recruitment and Leadership

For Consumer Exec, the takeaway is simple: fashion’s relationship with culture is changing, and businesses need the right people to navigate it. The “right hire” in this context isn’t just someone with retail experience — it’s someone who understands how influence flows across screens, platforms, and audiences.

CMOs and Brand Directors will be tasked with ensuring fashion houses stay culturally relevant while protecting brand equity.
Marketing and communications leads must be fluent in both heritage storytelling and fast-moving digital trends.
Partnership managers need to negotiate deals that extend beyond visibility into real consumer impact.
Commercial finance leaders will increasingly have to model ROI on cultural partnerships, not just traditional campaigns.

This is a complex ecosystem, and it’s the leaders who can operate across creative, digital, and commercial lines who will make the difference.

Final Thought

The 2025 Emmys made something clear: the runway doesn’t just run through Paris, Milan or London anymore. It runs through our living rooms. Brands that adapt to this cultural shift will thrive, but only if they have the people in place who know how to make influence work for business.

Fashion has always been about being in the right place at the right time. Today, that place is television — and the right time is now.