STYLE EVOLUTION

Cara Delevingne’s Style Evolutions Shows a Supermodel Finding Herself

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Cara Delevingne at the met gala.
Image via Getty

Since her runway debut with Burberry during London Fashion Week Fall 2011, Cara Delevingne has become one of the most sought-after models, cultivating close ties with designers like Christopher Bailey, Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, and Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel. And while she was already a red carpet fixture thanks to early appearances at the Met Gala and at Cannes, she’s become even more so thanks to her burgeoning acting career, including her most recent role in this summer’s Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets. Over her many, many appearances, Delevingne has also used fashion to refine her own sense of self. Early photos show a young model in your standard starlet-appropriate dresses, but now in her late 20s the openly queer model is unafraid to explore all sides of herself. Here, a look back at her best looks.

2021: Dior Couture Show
Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Cara Delevingne proves you can make a statement by keeping things simple by opting to forgo a shirt under her Dior suit.

2019: DKNY Event
Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for DKNY

To celebrate DKNY’s 30th anniversary, Cara channeled a bit of “Sporty Spice,” but made it fashion.

2019: Carnival Row Screening in Berlin
Photo by Christian Marquardt/WireImage

Delevingne wore a liquid look David Koma gown for a special screening on her Amazon Prime Video fantasy series “Carnival Row.”

2019: Chanel’s Tribeca Dinner
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

In New York City, the model mixed wet look hair with a rock and roll take on classic Chanel codes.

2019: Dior Show
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

While Deleivingne had gravitated to short hair and more tailored, darker looks, by 2019 she proved she could still rock a feminine, fun pink number. This one, of course, is Dior.

2018: Princess Eugenie’s Wedding
Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Image

Bucking tradition, Cara Delevingne wore a traditional suit to her friend Princess Eugenie’s royal wedding back in 2018.

2018: Met Gala
Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter

Continuing her flare for a bit of goth every now and then, Cara Delevingne wore this graphic black Dior Haute Couture gown for the 2018 Catholic-themed Met Gala.

2018: Dior Show
Photo by Dominique Charriau/WireImage.

Strengthening her relationship with Dior under creative director Maria Grazia Churi, Delevingne wore Dior seperates, with some peek-a-boo underwear, to the brand’s fw 2018 show.

2017: Valerian London Premiere
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Cara Delevingne attends the “Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets” European Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on July 24, 2017 in London, England.

2017: Valerian French Premiere
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Cara Delevingne attends Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Paris Premiere at La Cite Du Cinema on July 25, 2017 in Saint-Denis, France.

2017: Valerian Mexico City Premiere
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Cara Delevingne attends the “Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets” Mexico City premiere at Parque Toreo on August 2, 2017 in Mexico City, Mexico.

2017: Valerian Premiere
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Cara Delevingne attends the premiere of EuropaCorp and STX Entertainment’s “Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets” at TCL Chinese Theatre on July 17, 2017 in Hollywood, California.

2017: Chanel Show
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Sporting her best GI Jane look, Cara Delevingne attends the Chanel Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2017-2018 show as part of Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week on July 4, 2017 in Paris, France.

2017: MTV Movie and TV Awards
Cara Delevingne on a red carpet.

Cara Delevingne attends the 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on May 7, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

2017: Save The Elephants Dinner
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Cara Delevingne attends a dinner hosted by Doutzen Kroes and Lucy Yeomans in honour of Save the Elephants at The Orangery on June 12, 2017 in London, England.

2017: Met Gala

In Chanel, Cara Delevingne attends “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between” Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City with a bold painted head.

2017: Cannes Party
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By the spring on 2017, Delevignge had debuted a striking blonde buzz cut. Seen here at the Magnum party during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Magnum Beach on May 18, 2017 in Cannes, France.

2017: Chanel Show
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In a daring movie, Delevingne mixed classic Chanel with Supreme underwear at Chanel’s Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2017/2018 on March 7, 2017 in Paris, France.

2016: Women of the Year Event
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Cara Delevingne arrives at the Glamour Women Of The Year 2016 at NeueHouse Hollywood on November 14, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.

2016: Burberry Show
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Cara Delevingne channel goth by wearing Burberry at the Burberry September 2016 show during London Fashion Week SS17 at Makers House on September 19, 2016 in London, England.

2016: MTV Movie Awards
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Delevingne recently joined the #BalmainArmy, wearing one of Olivier Rousteing’s body-con jumpsuits for the MTV Movie Awards in Burbank, California, April 2016. Photo by Getty Images.

2016: Chanel Show
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Then, of course, there’s her long-standing muse-ship with Karl Lagerfeld; she oozed Chanel couture at the fashion house’s Spring 2016 presentation. Photo by Getty Images.

2015: Pan Premiere
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Delevingne is a woman of many hats, moving fluidly back and forth between the fashion and film worlds (and, more than occasionally, mixing the two). She wore a feathered Burberry mini for the premiere of Pan in London, England, September 2015. Photo by Getty Images.

2015: Burberry Show
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British It girls, unite. Delevingne hasn’t cut ties with Burberry by any means; she and Kate Moss appeared at the house’s Spring 2015 show together. Photo by Getty Images.

2015: Paper Towns NYC Premiere
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And from Burberry girl to Saint Laurent — at the New York premiere of Paper Towns, Delevingne opted for a shimmery Saint Laurent look, sticking with the minidresses that served her well over the course of the press tour. Photo by Getty Images.

2015: Paper Towns Australian Premiere
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From model to movie star — Delevingne was spotted on the Paper Towns press circuit in a Dion Lee minidress with Saint Laurent sandals, and a superhero-esque shade of eyeshadow (perhaps foreshadowing her Suicide Squad casting to come).

Cara Delevingne at the Australian premiere of Paper Towns in Sydney, Australia, July 2015. Photo by Getty Images.

2014: Cannes Party
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Delevingne’s embellished Roberto Cavalli gown wasn’t even the highlight of her look for the 2014 De Grisogono party at the Cannes Film Festival — instead, it was the De Grisogono monkey necklace she wore slung over her back. Photo by Getty Images.

2014: Met Gala
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In a rare diversion from her usual look, Delevingne eschews Burberry in favor of Stella McCartney (she also arrived as part of the designer’s squad), making the pantsuit look work for her. Photo by Getty Images.

2013: Cannes Film Festival
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Delevingne again selects Burberry–this time for her Cannes debut, appearing at the opening ceremony and The Great Gatsby premiere in May 2013. Photo by Getty Images.

2013: Met Gala
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At the 2013 Met Gala for “Punk: From Chaos to Couture,” Delevingne threw it back to her gala debut two years prior in a similar, but more daring, Burberry design. Maturing hand-in-hand with Christopher Bailey. Photo by Getty Images.

2012: British Fashion Awards
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Delevingne was dubbed Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2012, an accolade she accepted in a metallic green Burberry shift. Photo by Getty Images.

2012: Le Bal
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Delevingne’s Emilio Pucci hints at her penchant for a plunging neckline, but with a bit more color than her later style choices.

Cara Delevingne at the MAC and Carine Roitfeld party ‘Le Bal’ in Paris, France, October 2012. Photo by Getty Images.

2012: amFAR Gala
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For the 2012 amfAR gala at Cannes, Delevingne wore a forest green Burberry Prorsum gown, inaugurating her color phase. (It didn’t last long.) Photo by Getty Images.

2012: Met Gala
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At the following year’s Met Gala for “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations,” Delevingne walked the red carpet with Jourdan Dunn in Burberry yet again, a relatively understated look for the budding style star. Photo by Getty Images.

2011: Met Gala
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Delevingne made her Met Gala debut at the 2011 event for “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” in a Burberry gown with fellow model Douglas Booth. Photo by Getty Images.

2010: London Event
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Later that year, Delevingne rocked the model-off-duty look with a crisp white bibbed shirt and black jeans for a part in London, England, November 2010. Photo by Nick Harvey/WireImage.

2010: Cavalli 40th Anniversary
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A very blonde and very baby-faced Cara Delevingne made an appearance at the Robert Cavalli 40-year celebration at Paris Fashion Week in September 2010. Photo by Getty Images.

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