Zendaya Rules All, Once Again, in the Emmys Red Carpet Power Rankings

Ratings dipped roughly 10 percent for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards , which drew 6.8 million viewers to the event at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, vs. a broadcast audience of 7.59 million for the 2025 event. But you wouldn’t know it from the social-media conversations about the red-carpet style seen on television’s biggest night this year, as influence statistics across fashion categories budged hardly at all — and in a few cases, the numbers topped last year’s.

Indeed, for Emmys 2026, The Hollywood Reporter ‘s Red Carpet Power Rankings prove not only that fashion continues its dominance in awards show conversations, regardless of audience size, but also that the appearance — or absence — of a single star just might make the biggest impact. More on that in a moment. Related Stories Music Taylor Swift to Receive Inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors Movies 'Once Upon a Time in Harlem' Wins Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film (Exclusive)

Now in their third year, the Red Carpet Power Rankings continue as an exclusive partnership between The Hollywood Reporter and data firm Launchmetrics , measuring earned engagement among luxury brands seen at the entertainment industry’s biggest awards shows, plus May’s Met Gala. Recognized as the industry standard for modern brand measurement, Launchmetrics employs its proprietary Media Impact Value (MIV) algorithm to analyze and rank both brands and stars, spanning five categories: fashion, watches and jewelry, accessories, and finally top five women and top five men at each event. The Launchmetrics MIV algorithm assigns a monetary value to every post, social media interaction and editorial story to determine a brand’s influence and earned engagement.

How does that translate to Emmys 2026 ? Overall the engagement numbers don’t come close to this year’s Oscars or Met Gala — but they’re just as valid in measuring the power of a star and his or her impact on what they choose to wear. Let’s dig into the results.