Fashion focus: best-dressed at Billboard Women in Music 2025

On March 29 2025, the annual event ‘Billboard Women in Music’ was held to recognise the significant contributions of women in the music industry. It included artists, songwriters, and producers. This year, many notable creatives who I have mentioned in this column were awarded, and I will further boast their ‘style icon’ status by detailing their outfits featured on the red carpet.

Still, a strong embrace of femininity is on theme for the awards  

Doechii, who I spoke in depth about her style at the 2025 Grammy Awards, was awarded the leading award of ‘Woman of the Year’. Nothing was able to compare following such a flawless run of garments. Styled by Sam Woolf in a Donna Karan from the fall 2014 collection, she looked stunning – but it lacked the concept and artistic direction she presented at the Grammy’s. This is likely due to the Grammy’s being a more significant and notable award show, with a broader audience and greater acclaim. Despite this, she looked beautiful. The sleeveless sheer dress with a thigh-high slit was impactful. I always appreciate more interesting accessorising on the red carpet, which she included with her Fendi bag. I undeniably hold Doechii to a higher standard, as I expected to see more references and innovation from her. Still, a strong embrace of femininity is on theme for the awards.

Jennie, who was awarded the Global Force Award for her debut album Ruby, which includes the track ‘ZEN’, looked exceptional. She was styled in predominantly red in a Zuhair Murad dress from the fall 2025 RTW collection. The plunging neckline of the red dress highlights the red pendant necklace. The alternate colour she opted for was black, bordering red by her hair and her shoes. The outfit aligns with the cover of her album and other styling within her performances and M/Vs to promote her work, which was being celebrated at this award show. In contrast to her outfits in ZEN, this outfit is much plainer. I would love to see Jennie bring some Avant-Garde fashion to the red carpet to make her stand out.

It’s fashion forward, it’s high fashion, it’s a statement

Another K-pop artist present at the awards was Aespa, styled by Anna Park, Hayun Ju, and Son Yeji. Park Sangeun designed the outfits. Aespa is a four-member girl group comprising of Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ning Ning. They effectively maintained a consistent group image while ensuring all outfits were unique to create an interesting visual picture. This was done most obviously with the monochromatic application of white. In almost every element of consistency, there was some differentiation. For example, they all sported unique shoe styles – with a consistent element being a thigh-high flair. Similarly, they all wore white shorts, but the layering of belts and fringe ensured variety. The greatest difference was their choice of tops and coats. Ning Ning sported a sleeveless crop top, Winter wore a biker-style jacket, Giselle had a fur coat, and Karina wore an off-the-shoulder style top. I thought this to be a strong display of outfits and group styling. However, I wish they had leant more into their group concept that aligned with them receiving the Group of the Year award.

The final artist I want to focus on is Erykah Badu, who I focused on in one of my first pieces in this column. Badu wore what she dubbed “Full Figure Form”, which was made in collaboration with Myah Hasbany. The outfit served a heightened level of fashion, in which the aforementioned outfits – while effective – lacked. The outfits were inspired by Sarah Baartman, an African woman. She is seen as the “epitome of colonial exploitation and racism, of the ridicule and commodification of black people”. It’s fashion forward, it’s high fashion, it’s a statement. It’s undeniably the strongest outfit of the evening and demonstrates how worthy Badu is of her ‘Fashion Icon’ title.