Infallible style: Pope Leo appears in Vanity Fair’s ranks of most fashionable

Pontiff, who has caught the eye in trainers and a baseball cap, praised for taking dress to ‘heavenly heights’ For the first time in a decade, Vanity Fair has released a best-dressed list. Featuring 70 names, the list ranks the most fashionable people in the world in 2026. The lineup includes the usual suspects spanning Hollywood actors and global pop stars but nestled among the Hollywood stars is an unexpected entrant. Pope Leo XIV. The 70-year-old head of the Catholic church has been praised by the magazine for taking papal style “to heavenly heights”. His most memorable look? A simple white cassock styled with a pair of Nike trainers. Vanity Fair’s style correspondent José Criales-Unzueta, who worked on compiling the list, said he and the team were impressed by the “innate Americanness” of the way the pope dressed. The Chicago-born pontiff has carved out a style niche and garnered a loyal fashion following with his enthusiasm for both bespoke vestments and vintage fashion accessories. Alongside trainers, he prefers simple black oxford shoes to the traditional red papal slippers. He wears a discontinued Swiss-made quartz watch, carries his own battered briefcase an