Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards 2025: What actually happened at Claridge’s

On 6 November 2025, the ballroom at Claridge’s Hotel in Mayfair, London filled with some of the most influential women in culture for the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards 2025. The event, hosted in partnership with The Platinum Card® by American Express, honours women across fashion, film, art, music, sport and literature.

This year’s winners’ list underlined how broad that influence has become:

• Jade Thirlwall – Musician of the Year, presented by Cheryl, recognising her solo career after Little Mix.

• Reese Witherspoon – honoured with an Icon-type award, reflecting her work as an actor, producer and founder of Hello Sunshine.

• Aimee Lou Wood – Television Actress of the Year.

• Rosamund Pike – Theatre Actress of the Year, celebrated for her stage work.

• Mia Threapleton – Breakthrough Actress of the Year.

• Chloe Kelly – Sportswoman of the Year, reflecting her impact with England and Arsenal.

• Gillian Anderson – Entrepreneur of the Year, recognising the way she has expanded her career beyond acting.

• Chemena Kamali – Designer of the Year, marking her influence at Chloé.

The guest list was equally heavyweight: Olivia Wilde, America Ferrera, Cheryl, Celia Imrie, Nathalie Emmanuel, Saffron Hocking, Sheila Atim and more joined the honourees on the red carpet.

Across social media and coverage from titles like Harper’s Bazaar UK, Hello! and Darling Magazine UK, one theme kept recurring: this didn’t just feel like another glossy London gala. It felt like a night where women dressed to own the room – and the narrative.

Female power dressing on the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards 2025 red carpet

Reports from the night make one thing clear: power dressing in 2025 isn’t one uniform look. At Claridge’s, it stretched from sheer chainmail to velvet tailoring and butter-yellow draping – and nearly all of it worn by women who are leaders in their fields.

Harper’s Bazaar’s own fashion coverage noted that suits “unexpectedly ruled the red carpet”, even in a space famous for floor-length gowns.

At the same time, there were enough sequins, crystal mesh and dramatic colour to remind everyone that red-carpet glamour is still very much alive.

Chloe Kelly and the new athletic glamour

England and Arsenal forward Chloe Kelly, named Sportswoman of the Year, walked in a sharply modern version of the “naked dress” – a sheer, crystal-embellished chainmail gown with a thigh-high slit and a hooded, metallic silhouette that lit up the cameras.

Fashion titles highlighted how far this look is from the standard image of a footballer in kit and boots. Hello! described it as Chloe “trying her hand at fashion’s most daring trend”, while tabloids and sports media picked up on how striking it was to see a Lioness embracing full high-fashion drama.

For a generation of young fans who watched Kelly score in the Euro 2022 final, seeing her step onto a London red carpet in chainmail couture is a powerful expansion of what a “sportswoman” is allowed to look like.

Jade Thirlwall in red – and the power of being honoured by your hero

Jade Thirlwall collected the Musician of the Year award in a bold, asymmetrical red gown – a colour that reads clearly in photographs and headlines, and a silhouette that felt grown-up and confident rather than overly romantic.

Coverage from ITV Tyne Tees and Darling Magazine UK emphasised another emotional detail: the award was presented to Jade by Cheryl, one of her childhood idols and a fellow North-East pop star.

In the room, that moment carried as much weight as the dress. It was a visual of British girl-group lineage: Girls Aloud handing the torch to Little Mix, and now to a solo Jade finding her own aesthetic and voice.

Gillian Anderson’s citrus glamour

Gillian Anderson, honoured as Entrepreneur of the Year, chose a soft yellow Stella McCartney gown with draped lines and clean shoulders – a colour that several commentators flagged as unexpected for early November London, and one that photographed beautifully against Claridge’s interior.

It was an interesting choice for someone being recognised not just as an actor, but as a business figure and brand in her own right. The dress hit a sweet spot between classic glamour and modern minimalism – a reminder that “power” can look quietly luminous, not just dark and severe.

Olivia Wilde and the velvet suit

On the sharper end of the power-dressing spectrum was Olivia Wilde, who presented Gillian Anderson’s award wearing a black velvet suit by Bella Freud – wide-leg trousers and a tailored jacket styled with a white shirt.

Harper’s Bazaar UK highlighted how suits “ruled” the red carpet this year, and Wilde’s look is a clean example of why: it’s still formal, still photogenic, but it carries a message of authority and ease.

In a room full of tulle and beadwork, a velvet tux on a female presenter reads as its own subtle statement.

Why women-only awards still matter in a male-dominated awards ecosystem

The Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards have been running for more than a decade, with Hearst describing them as a platform to celebrate women across Actress, Musician, Performance, Entrepreneur, Artist, Sportswoman, Breakthrough, Designer, Writer and Icon categories.

What makes the 2025 edition feel particularly resonant is who is being recognised:

• A footballer (Chloe Kelly) whose defining image used to be a sports bra and a last-minute winner, now framed as a fashion reference.

• An actor like Gillian Anderson, honoured not for a single role but for the entrepreneurial choices that have turned her into a multi-hyphenate.

• Jade Thirlwall, navigating the jump from girl group member to solo musician with a more mature sound and style, being named Musician of the Year in her own right.

Most major mixed-gender awards – in film, music or sport – are still statistically dominated by male nominees and winners. Women’s stories can end up squeezed into one or two token categories. By contrast, a night like this gives a whole room, and several hours of press coverage, entirely to female achievement.

You can see that in the photography: winners framed together in the Claridge’s winners’ room, editorial shoots shared by titles like Yahoo, People and Getty Images, and social clips from Harper’s Bazaar editors talking about the warmth and intimacy of the evening.

For readers, especially women in the UK, the message is simple but powerful: the modern idea of success is not reserved for men in tuxedos clutching golden statues. It looks like Jade in red, Chloe in crystal mesh, Gillian in yellow draping – and it lives in London.

London’s role: a global stage for women in culture and style

In 2025, London has hosted a dense run of high-profile events – from the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards to business and entertainment honours like the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

The Harper’s Bazaar night at Claridge’s sits right at the intersection of those worlds:

• It’s fashion, with designers like Stella McCartney, Emilia Wickstead and Bella Freud represented on the carpet.

• It’s culture, with honourees from TV, theatre and film such as Aimee Lou Wood, Rosamund Pike and Mia Threapleton.

• It’s sport, with Chloe Kelly turning a football career into a broader platform.

• It’s business and entrepreneurship, through recipients like Gillian Anderson and Designer of the Year winner Chemena Kamali.

For a title like Niche Magazine, this event is more than a celebrity gallery. It’s a case study in how London is currently functioning as a capital of female power dressing – not simply because the outfits are strong, but because the women wearing them are setting the agenda in their industries.