The MTV Video Music Awards have never been a place for playing it safe. For decades, the ceremony’s carpet has occupied its own corner of fashion history, where pop spectacle, experimentation and a little provocation are not only welcomed, but expected. At the 2026 VMAs, that spirit was alive and well.
Held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, 27 September, this year’s ceremony brought together some of music and entertainment’s biggest names, with the fashion moving between barely-there Y2K references, liquid metallics, gothic romance and unapologetic glamour.
For South African superstar Tyla, the evening called for Mowalola. The singer arrived in a turquoise-blue snakeskin bra and ultra-low-rise pencil skirt from the label’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection, fresh from the London runway. The skin-baring silhouette was pure Tyla, balancing the tiny bra with a fitted skirt falling just below the knee. A contrasting snakeskin choker and coordinating pointed heels extended the reptilian motif, while Chopard jewellery added an unexpected flourish, including a watch worn around her ankle.
Olandria Carthen, meanwhile, kept her formidable fashion streak going following a headline-making run at Milan Fashion Week. For the VMAs, Carthen traded front-row dressing for sculptural red-carpet glamour in a brown leather ManMadeSkins Spring/Summer 2026 gown. The body-skimming mermaid silhouette was punctuated by intricate lace-up detailing, bringing a tougher, almost armour-like quality to an otherwise classically feminine shape.
Normani delivered one of the evening’s most dramatic interpretations of the mermaid gown in Robert Wun Autumn/Winter 2025 Couture. A liquid-metal bodice wrapped the torso before meeting a fitted black skirt that hugged the body through the hips and erupted into architectural pleats towards the floor. Metallic sleeves extended into opera gloves, while a sculptural floral detail bloomed across one shoulder, transforming the familiar mermaid silhouette into something altogether more futuristic.
Charli xcx took the carpet in another direction entirely. Wearing Saint Laurent, the singer channelled dark, late-Nineties-meets-Y2K glamour in black velvet separates inspired by the house’s Autumn/Winter 2017 collection. Her ultra-low-rise column skirt sat sharply against a cropped, balloon-sleeved top, complete with a sheer panel across the bust. With long black hair, a smoky eye and minimal accessories, the effect was less polished pop princess and more gothic rock star.
Lisa made perhaps the strongest case for monochromatic dressing. The BLACKPINK star arrived enveloped in an enormous crimson faux-fur Quine Li coat, its sweeping train opening to reveal a corseted red lace look by The Attico underneath. Matching pointed heels and a red accent woven into her hair completed the head-to-toe colour story. It was excessive in precisely the way VMAs fashion should be.
Elsewhere, Teyana Taylor leaned fully into dark romance in Zuhair Murad Autumn/Winter 2026 Couture. Her sheer black embroidered coat-gown plunged dramatically at the neckline before falling into a thigh-high slit, with extravagant feathering framing the collar, cuffs and hem. The combination of transparency, intricate embroidery and feathers gave the look a theatrical quality without losing Taylor’s characteristic sensuality.
PinkPantheress offered a softer counterpoint to the evening’s body-conscious dressing in Nina Ricci. Her burgundy polka-dot chiffon gown cascaded towards the floor in romantic tiers of ruffles, bringing an almost storybook femininity to the carpet.
If there was one thread connecting the night, it was a willingness to dress with personality. The 2026 VMAs carpet was less interested in restrained awards-season elegance than fashion with a point of view. Tyla looked unmistakably Tyla, Charli unmistakably Charli, while Normani, Olandria, Lisa and Teyana each found different routes towards drama.
And really, that is when VMAs fashion works best. Not when everybody is perfectly dressed, but when nobody looks as though they could have worn the same thing anywhere else.
