Eilish and Styles are "world’s most influential style icons" - study

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 10, 2020

Billie Eilish and Harry Styles are the most influential male and female celebrities in fashion, a new study shows. Online retailer Jewellerybox analysed Google search data around terms such as ‘fashion’, ‘outfits’ and ‘style’ and found Eilish enjoyed 949,300 searches in the last 12 months. She saw 602,500 outfit searches, 259,200 style searches and 87,600 fashion searches. Meanwhile, Styles’ combined searches reached 789,100.

Eilish was well ahead of the second-placed female celebrity with Ariana Grande on a still-hefty 674,000. And Taylor Swift was close behind on 627,600. 

The top three had a clear lead with number four Lady Gaga on ‘only’ 377,700. She was followed by Kendall Jenner on 371,100, her sister Kylie on 313,700, and Rihanna on 298,800. In eighth place was Kim Kardashian on 249,200 (more evidence of just how strong a hold the Kardashian-Jenner clan has on women’s style choices), while Selena Gomez was ninth on 185,200 and in 10th place was Cher on 136,250.

The list highlights the importance of music stars in general and seems to justify the emphasis that designer and streetwear brands’ marketing departments put on getting their products seen in music videos.

As mentioned, Harry Styles topped the men's list, followed by Cam Newton (475,300), Kanye West (301,700), Justin Bieber (250,700), Russell Westbrook (211,700), Elton John (194,240), David Beckham (175,540), Shia LaBeouf (152,900), Drake (137,900), and Post Malone (128,560).

While the presence of names such as Cher and Elton John show that it's not only about youth, the lists do both skew young. And again, while sports stars such as Newton and Beckham have their place as men’s style icons, music is also a key theme for the men's list.