100 Names You'll Name Drop All Year According To The Cult100

Forbes

08-05-2025

Chloe Fineman, Photo Credit: Arrivals - Madison McGaw for BFA
Lists are everywhere. But Cultured magazine's 'CULT100' reads less like a trend report, and more like a cultural edit. As the tagline promises, these are '100 names you'll name drop all year.' Beneath its mission lies a deeper goal: to inspire not just cultural relevance, but cultural resonance.
The name itself — CULT100 — hints at more than just hype. From cult classics to cult followings, the word 'cult' also means sparking obsession and signals being ahead of the curve.
For Sarah Harrelson, founder and Editor-in-Chief of Cultured, the CULT100 is an intellectual and emotional undertaking. 'These lists are huge undertakings,' she says. 'For this year's CULT100, our mission was to look beyond the obvious, to allow for discovery, to let intellectual curiosity guide us.'
Released in the last week of April to coincide with Cultured's April/May issue, the CULT100 event was held on the first Thursday in May, kicking off New York's unofficial 'social week.' The timing, as Harrelson notes, was unintentional. 'There is certainly overlap,' she says, 'but we have carved out a very different voice, niche, path, and intention from the Met Gala.'
That intention was made clear at this year's CULT100 celebration, hosted at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in partnership with Maison Valentino. Rather than a typical industry party, the evening unfolded as a mashup of genres and generations: opening remarks from Sarah Jessica Parker (a CULT100 honoree) and a monologue by Saturday Night Live's Chloe Fineman (also on the list), which featured a cameo from Walton Goggins, who is hosting SNL this coming weekend.
The night continued with a reading by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a performance by Laufey, and a DJ set by Julia Fox. 'I wanted to put together an unexpected range of cultural programming,' Harrelson says. (Goal, very much achieved.)
The broad spectrum also reflects the range of the CULT100 list itself, by striking a balance of globally recognized names like Parker, Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams alongside lesser-known individuals 'doing remarkable work across a range of creative disciplines, sometimes behind the scenes.'
'With the CULT100, the dynamism and range of the list is its differentiator," Harrelson explains. 'The balance is simply in the numbers. The list represents just as many emerging disruptors as iconic names.'
'We have A-List film stars alongside artists, museum curators, a civil rights attorney, and more rising talents across creative disciplines."
It also includes digital voices like Feed Me creator Emily Sundberg, whom Cultured dubs 'the millennial Carrie Bradshaw — but instead of writing about sex, she writes about money — and how a certain set of New Yorkers is getting and spending it.' Sundberg has proven that a sharp Substack can shape the conversation just as powerfully as a red carpet appearance.
'We wanted to recognize the full spectrum of influence — macro or micro — and find the people who are shaping and challenging cultural conversations in their own unique ways,' Harrelson says.
In an era when cultural relevance is often confused with social visibility, how does Cultured look at 'making noise' and creating buzz? 'It feels more competitive than ever to 'make noise' with the speed in which content cycles through,' Harrelson says. 'You have to do something that feels singular and authentic to who you are and what your brand is.'
For Cultured, that means intentionally replacing what's trending in favor of what's lasting. 'We work very hard to examine what matters now,' Harrelson says, 'but we don't spend much time on what is trending.'
While other lists often imply a hierarchy, or offer a 'you made it' stamp, the CULT100 vibes on a different frequency. 'The dynamism and range of the list is its differentiator,' Harrelson explains. 'Our honorees are leveled in a different way. We aim for the curation to bring gravitas to creatives who may be lesser-known but have work that is just as culturally significant.'
More than a list, the CULT100 is a statement. A tribute to those who ask for forgiveness, not permission; who shift conversations instead of following them; who move culture because they move differently.