A Decade In Review: The 30 Most Disruptive And Dominating Pop Culture Moments Of 2010-2020

By Natasha Bird, Executive Editor

For the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Lady Gaga - ever the fan of making an entrance - turned up in a dress made entirely of raw beef. A stunt that would have our increasingly vegetarian, climate change-fighting society up in arms were it to happen today, a decade ago it drew a few side-eyes and held noses.

By Lena De Casparis, Associate Editor/Culture Director:

Who can forget the episode of X Factor when Simon Cowell chose five unlikely lads - Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik (who refused to dance) and asked them to form teen dream One Direction?

They didn’t win - or even come second - but the third place contestants went on to create mania everywhere they went and sold 50 million records worldwide. Zayn departed five years on in 2015 and started dating Gigi Hadid. Liam had a baby with Cheryl. Niall turned crooner and was rumoured to date Selena Gomez. Louis keeps making music. And Harry, well he continues to make us weak at the knees with Gucci campaigns and dancing to 'Lights Up'.

By Becky Burgum, Features Assistant

Remember when you only compared yourself to women on TV or in magazines? That was cute. On 6 October 2010 that all changed with the invention of Instagram (which now has more than one billion users).

Instagram birthed the influencer, allowed us to creepily keep up to date with the latest celebrity scandal and produced a new advertising mechanic. But it’s not all bad. Global communities have risen, you can get a job through the platform, flirt without having to Facebook poke, and most importantly, you can share memes.

By Amy Brewster, Social Media Manager

The Kardashians burst onto our screens and into our lives in 2007 with the launch of their series, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. However, their world domination began in this decade. By season five, the show had fully taken off and in the past 10 years alone Kim has married and divorced Kris Humphries, wed rapper Kanye West, had four children, two by surrogate, and launched several industry dominating businesses including KKW Beauty and more recently shape wear brand Skims.

Kylie Jenner, the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner siblings, has not only had her first child but also reached billionaire status. And that's just two of the five-sibling family, you see what we’re getting at… What’s momager Kris Jenner been doing over the past 10 years you ask? Working harder than the devil of course.

By Katie O'Malley, Acting Deputy Digital Editor

Little did we know that when Prince William and Kate Middleton met in 2001 during their days at the University of St Andrews, we would soon welcome a new era for the royal family; one of enviable wardrobe choices, inspiring messages about mental health issues and mass adoration for the couple.

Ahead of their royal wedding in April 2011, Middleton had unknowingly inspired the ‘Kate’ effect, inspiring legions of royal fans around the world to go out in their droves to buy her clothes, beauty products and accessories. Whether it was her sell-out blue ISSA dress that she wore to announce her engagement in November 2010 or her polka dot blue Jenny Packham dress following the birth of Prince George in 2013, the Duchess of Cambridge has continued to champion the British high street and designers. Undoubtedly using the inspiration of her husband's mother, Princess Diana, Middleton began to carve out a space for royal women - which Meghan Markle then added to equally in 2017 - away from the shadows of their partners allowing them to have their own voice on important issues heralding a new era of female royals.

By Olivia Blair, Digital News Editor

After 10 years, eight films and JK Rowling's books done, completed, finito. The cast of Harry Potter graduated. There was no more Hogwarts and, after growing up in the public eye, the franchise's stars set out on their next moves. Daniel Radcliffe did some naked theatre and films and, well, Emma Watson set out about changing the world. Her viral He For She speech to the United Nations in 2014 called on men to help in the global fight for gender equality and she's been banging that drum ever since, establishing herself from Hermoine to heroine.

By Becky Burgum

Who would have thought a TV show so similar to the sneered at Dungeons & Dragons could grip the entire nation quite like GOT has? The cult following is so strong that in its final year, eight years after the first episode aired, themed merch of any kind (on Amazon you can get everything from chopping boards to egg cups) is still acceptable gifts, we still work the ‘Winter is coming’ catchphrase into every conversation (or headline), we're fans of previously unknown household names like Sophie Turner, Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke and Dubrovnik has never had so much tourism.

By Jennifer George, Beauty Editor

How glorious and positive London was during the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Everyone was just so jolly and cheery and we didn’t even mind the traffic and busy tubes. We won loads of medals! The weather was actually half decent! Andy Murray won gold! So did Mo Farah! It was called Super Saturday!

And Mr Bean and the Spice Girls closed it all equally as joyfully. London has seen some grim and depressing times since then, sadly but we shouldn’t forget that we do pomp, parades and pride very well.

By Hannah Nathanson, Features Director

Who remembers which films won, or even who was nominated? 2012’s Oscars gossip was all about Angelina Jolie’s right leg. The actress wore a black Versace gown which had a thigh-high split down the right-hand side. Images of her sticking her leg provocatively out launched a thousand ‘Angelina Right Leg’ memes. Some said it was the breakthrough star of the whole evening, and deserved an Oscar in itself.

By Amy Brewster

Who even remembers a time when the likes of Gigi and Bella Hadid, Kaia Gerber and Kendall Jenner didn't dominate every single runway show? But they didn't actually begin their careers until this decade.

Jenner walked her first major runway for Marc Jacobs in 2014, only 5 years ago, soon cementing herself among the new class of models supreme with Cara Delevingne, Joan Smalls and Jourdan Dunn to name a few.

Kaia made her runway debut in 2017 and both Gigi and Bella debuted at Desigual’s show, Gigi in 2014 and Bella in 2015. What can we expect in the next decade from these women? We’re hoping for more runways, more chic street style and more transformative hair styles. Please guys.

By Lena De Casparis

When Hannah Horvath ‘the voice of my generation’ and her three best friends took over the small screen in cult classic Girls we were all hooked. A celebration of friendship, first loves and a fair amount of millennial entitlement. In with the new and out with the old, Lena Dunham created a flawed, female foursome replaced the Carries and Samanthas of New York City, bringing a refreshing dose of awkward sex and financial struggles while also introducing Adam Driver to the world.

By George Driver, Digital Beauty Editor

For a hundred years the world simply wore lipstick, then, in 2015, the youngest member of the Kardashian Klan, Kylie Jenner, turned her hand to beauty and the liquid lipstick was born.

Taking the Instagram generation’s desperation for Kylie’s ‘naturally’ plump pout and rolling with it, the Lip Kit served up the ultimate lip liner and liquid lipstick duo (along with endless online waiting lists, over 1 million tagged arm swatches on Instagram and more than a few law suits). Fast forward five years and the 22-year-old sold her stake of the liquid lipstick revolution for a whopping £463 million.

By Olivia Blair

Beyoncé has done many things to cement herself as a pop culture icon in the past decade (and before, but we're just focusing on the '10s ok), including an incredible, history-making Coachella headline performance (and subsequent Netflix documentary), that Lemonade album, a Super Bowl headline set reuniting Destiny's Child, becoming a mother and more. But, another way in which Bey changed the music industry forever was back in 2013 when she dropped a surprise self-titled visual album completely unannounced. There we were, just minding our own business replaying old Beyoncé songs and BAM. The fact that Beyoncé didn't need a promotional run-up to whip up excitement speaks to her icon status. Others have successfully followed suit since but Bey was the first and that's why she's the Queen.

By Jennifer George

In 2013, Miley left her Hannah Montana wig at the door and emerged, swinging in naked on a wrecking ball and singing about drugs. The peak of this comeback-come-rebirth came by way of her VMA performance, where she – dressed in nude latex, resembling a roast chicken – twerked empathically against a Beetlejuice suit-clad Robin Thicke’s groin. The songs were a huge success, the show made us all feel a bit weird. She did however, make us want to take up pilates at the same time.

By Amy Brewster

In 2015 Rihanna attended the Met Gala in a Guo Pei gown, little did she know that she would begin the trend of viral Met Gala memes. Her beautiful gown most infamously became an omelette, a pizza and a bowl of pasta.

Following in Rihanna’s fashionable footsteps is Priyanka Chopra’s 2017 Calvin Klein dress which became potato peel and a tent and P Diddy laying on the Met Gala steps was perfect meme fodder transforming into Diddy on a magic carpet and lion rug. Just what will Met Gala 2020 brings?

By Olivia Blair

A hip-hop musical about one of the lesser known American founding fathers? Sure... But all-round creative genius Lin Manuel Miranda managed to do it. And do it he did. Hamilton broke records with the amount of Tony nominations it received in 2016 and even won fans among presidents (Barack and Michelle are huge admirers) and royals (Meghan Markle has seen it at least three times).

After breaking the mould in a multitude of ways (it has one of the most diverse casts for theatre show), Manuel Miranda retired from the Broadway show but it's going strong - so strong, in fact, that it's still a right nightmare to get tickets four years following its debut. Never has a musical been so cool and buzzy, and Londoners were delighted when it arrived in the West End in 2017.

By Amy Brewster

Mugged off, My Type On Paper, Pied, Pull You For A Chat.

Love Island not only brought the 155 contestants romance and friendship (kind of) it also introduced the world to sayings that have lasted longer than the majority of the couples the Majorcan-set show produced.

Coming into it’s fifth year, the series (rebooted from a celeb version in the early noughties) was initially judged for it’s ridiculous concept and contestants but has since become one of the most watched series on ITV with 6 million viewers. It also produced a new type of celebrity - the type that lines up fast-fashion clothing lines while still in the villa and promotes teeth whitening strips to their humongous Instagram followings, earning serious cash in the process.

Mums wanted Kem and Amber to work things out, Grandads screamed at the TV when Curtis ditched Amy for Maura and we all cheered when Amber and Greg won and got their #sponcon deals when they left the villa yet shared in the disappointment when they broke up a mere few weeks later... Bring on the 2020 series!

By Olivia Blair

Over the last decade, Ariana Grande has transformed herself from a red-headed Nickelodeon teen star to a global symbol for hope and one of the most respected artists in the world. After the tragic terrorist bombing at her Manchester concert, Grande was thrust into a whole new level of recognition which she successfully navigated with grace, dignity and hope. She's been nothing but open and honest since, speaking about her PTSD, responding personally to struggling fans on Twitter, channelling the very public struggles in her personal life into chart-topping pop songs and has remained principled throughout.

By Hannah Nathanson

The day after the inauguration of President Trump on 21 January 2017, over 5 million people took to the streets for the first ever Women’s March. The organisers expected 100,000 people to attend in Washington but it turns out that so many more were willing to brace the chilly January air over their fears, frustrations, defiance and anger about the threat to women’s rights. Many of the marchers wore bright pink pussy hats which have become symbolic of anti-Trump protests. The movement was so powerful and rippled around the world, people were even marching on Antarctica.

By Olivia Blair

Picture the scene: La La Land has dominated 2017 awards season, the best picture award - aka the biggest gong of the night - is about to be presented by Hollywood legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway at the Oscars after a long night, La La Land is announced. Lead actors Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling grace the stage and all seems well.

Until.

There's some commotion, behind-the-scenes people and host Jimmy Kimmel come out on stage. THE WRONG WINNER HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED. Actually the Oscar went to another incredible movie, Moonlight. Cue social media hysteria, an apology from accounting firm PWC and one memorable moment that made the (often quite long and boring) awards ceremony pretty exciting.