Photo: Inez & Vinoodh/V magazine

5. Lady Gaga becomes fashion’s biggest muse:
It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that Mother Monster was the most influential figure in fashion this year. In March, she walked the runway for her BFF and stylist Nicola Formichetti’s first womenswear show for Thierry Mugler, and that was just the beginning. Since then, she’s covered Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, penned a column in V, had free reign of the Versace archives for her “Edge of Glory” music video, got her own holiday workshop at Barneys New York, and published an intimate book of photos from her epic Monster Ball tour, shot by Terry Richardson. Lucky for you, little monsters, Lady Gaga shows no sign of slowing down in 2012.