He’s been a solid fixture in the celebrity firmament (and the Internet Boyfriend roster) since a certain sexually charged scene co-starring a peach in 2017’s ”Call Me by Your Name,” but in 2025, Timothée Chalamet felt particularly ubiquitous for reasons equally sublime and ridiculous.
For starters, the 29-year-old American actor has run two separate, serious Oscar campaigns in the last 12 months. There was his best actor nomination earlier this year for playing Bob Dylan in ”A Complete Unknown,” and he’s closing out 2025 with strong awards buzz around his starring turn in ”Marty Supreme,” a film about a man who dreams of international table-tennis supremacy.
The highlighter-hued shell suits he’s worn for the latter’s press tour — a phenomenon unto itself, courtesy of Chalamet’s viral interviews and less successful attempts to make a catchphrase (“Schwap!”) stick — have also somehow become the must-have look of the moment for a certain crowd. See: the hordes that have swarmed pop-up shops for “Marty Supreme” merch, with the Daily Mail reporting some fans stood in line in London for 17 hours.
And he did all this while somehow earning the famously discerning Gwyneth Paltrow’s seal of approval. She co-starred with him in “Marty Supreme” — pap shots of the two kissing for a scene in the film went viral last October — and told British Vogue she was impressed to learn that he was dating Kylie Jenner, who has two children with rapper Travis Scott. “It’s a cool choice to go out with a young woman who has two kids. I respect it,” she told the magazine in its October issue. “I think it’s kind of punk rock.”
From December to December, here are all the times this high-achieving, zeitgeist-grabbing Gen Z had us all feeling a touch of Chalamania.
Somewhere in between learning the harmonica to play Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown” and learning how to walk in sand so it doesn’t alert carnivorous worms for the “Dune” sequel, Chalamet had time to deep-dive into the world of college football, a skill he demonstrated with granular style in an appearance on ESPN’s College Game Day. (“I’m going Jackson State, eight wins in a row, 11 all-conference players.”) Plus! His prediction for the winner of a key matchup proved to be spot on. Go Bobcats?
January: He ditched the limo in favour of public transport
Chalamet enchanted the internet and public transit advocates alike when he rocked up at the “A Complete Unknown” premiere in London riding one of the city’s rental Lime bikes. In a twist that upped the virality, he even got an official fine for “improper parking” when he abandoned the bike on the red carpet.
February: Oscar wins 0, Yellow Leather Suit 1
Our boy may not have won the best-actor Oscar for “A Complete Unknown” (though he did win the SAG), but his custom butter-yellow Givenchy leather suit earned a place in the red carpet pantheon. Also: no shame in losing out on an Academy Award, especially when it’s your second nom and you’re not even 29. In fact, this made him the youngest two-time Best Actor Oscar nominee since James Dean, who got two posthumous nominations after he died at 24 in 1955.
May: Red carpet official with Kylie Jenner
An unlikely Gen-Z power couple that first set tongues wagging in 2023, Chalamet and Jenner only made their relationship red-carpet official at the David Di Donatello Awards in Rome this year, where Chalamet received a special award for cinematic excellence. Yet more serious commitment may follow this public debut: In a recent interview, Chalamet — who otherwise stayed mum on his partner, saying “I just don’t have anything to say” — told Vogue that he believes “procreation is the reason we’re here.”
November:
An out-of-this-world Vogue cover
Sometimes, a self-professed “superpower” of “fearlessness” can take you to some strange places, like the widely panned Vogue cover — shot by legend Annie Leibovitz — Chalamet posed for this year. “Vogue x Canva” and “When you ask ChatGPT to do your cover” are among the top-liked comments on the mag’s Instagram post of the galaxy-inspired shoot.
TikTok thinks he’s got a side-hustle in rap
He’s on the record as rapping in high school as “Lil Timmy Tim,” but a viral theory claims Chalamet’s been dropping bars far more recently. Per an online conspiracy theory, he’s the voice behind the balaclava-wearing U.K. rapper EsDeeKid, pegged to evidence like “they own the same bandana” and “they both have double e’s in their name.” He hasn’t denied it, and there is an unmistakable resemblance in the tiny glimpses of EsDeeKid’s eyes and brows, which are all we’ve ever seen of him.
December: His “Marty Supreme” press tour style goes viral
Alongside generating Oscars 2026 buzz, Chalamet’s press tour for his role in “Marty Supreme” seems to have single-handedly made Day-Glo-bright zipped jackets A Thing again. That’s courtesy of a film-tie-in line of clothing he designed with streetwear brand Nahmias. Not only did the merch sell out instantly, it’s reselling for big bucks on eBay after being worn by Chalamet and celeb pals like Frank Ocean and Tom Brady.
Chalamet’s promo fashion choices also made headlines this month when he and Kylie wore matching orange leather ensembles to the film’s L.A. premiere. The colour-coordinated looks by American luxury brand Chrome Hearts went viral to mixed reviews: To some, they were a latter-day Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, whose his ’n’ hers double denim at the 2001 American Music Awards is an enduring image of Noughties fashion. For others, it was high cringe, drawing comparisons online to Cheetos, the new orange iPhone 17, Aperol spritzes and prison jumpsuits.
