Pope Leo XIV makes Vanity Fair’s list of the year’s most stylish people

American magazine Vanity Fair has included Pope Leo XIV in its list of the most stylish people of 2026. The pontiff was placed in the “The Originals” category — ten figures with, as the editors put it, an especially eccentric and inventive approach to dressing.

The same category also features Icelandic singer Björk, Spanish performer Rosalía and director Spike Lee. The editors cited the head of the Catholic Church’s deliberately informal style as the reason for including him.

It was above all the image of the future pontiff wearing a modest cream-coloured vestment with Nike sneakers that prompted the inclusion. The magazine noted that Leo XIV has retained his sense of irony and nonchalance on the papal throne — sometimes appearing in public in a baseball cap, for example.

The image in question spread online after the release of the trailer for the Vatican documentary “Leone a Roma”, about Robert Francis Prevost’s life in Rome before his election. GQ described how social media users worked out the exact model of the shoes.

This is not Leo XIV’s first such mention: in 2025, when he was elected, Vogue included him on its list of the 55 most stylish people of the year, while The New York Times featured the pontiff in one of its round-ups.

However, Catholic Herald has pointed out an inaccuracy: in the photograph used by Vanity Fair, the pontiff is not wearing a cassock, but a liturgical alb and chasuble. The Vatican itself has not commented on the pope’s appearance in the fashion ranking.