GOING VIRAL: Sam Smith made a dramatic fashion statement on the red carpet of the Brit Awards at The O2 Arena on Saturday night.
The British singer wore an all-black custom-made latex outfit by the London-based fashion label Harri, founded by London College of Fashion MA Fashion graduate Harikrishnan Keezhathil Surendran Pillai.
The specially made outfit Smith wore had a dramatic shoulders and thighs design. The singer, who was nominated in the Best Artist category this year and is due to perform later, completed the look with a pair of matching black high-heel boots, one pearl earring on the right, and a metal stud on the left.
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For fashion insiders, it’s obvious that the look was the creation of one of the most viral designers on social media last London Fashion Week in September. Videos of models dancing and bouncing wearing Harri’s imaginative latex creations logged millions of views on Instagram and TikTok.
“Sam was having a lot of hate comments recently after ‘Unholy’ about their body image. This is my take on celebrating his natural form and the beauty of being one’s self. I wanted to create an image which people have never seen Sam in,” the designer said.
In an earlier interview with WWD, the India-born designer, who now has his studio set up in London thanks to the U.K. global talent visa scheme, said, “I would never sell those rubber trousers but yeah, people love it.”
With Smith as his latest latex fan, the designer is due to present his fall 2023 collection on Feb. 20. — TIANWEI ZHANG
ROCK NATION: Hedi Slimane’s Celine show at the legendary Le Palace theater in Paris drew a who’s who of music stars, from K-pop idol Lalisa Manobal, known as Lisa, of Blackpink to U.S. rapper Wiz Khalifa, not to mention scores of rising young musicians keen to make the scene in stage-ready outfits.
“I love it. I’ve never been here,” said Jack White, taking in the ornate theater, which gained fame as France’s answer to Studio 54 in the ’70s and ’80s. “I thought this would be great for playing here.”
Although the U.S. guitarist and singer appeared in a Celine campaign last year, he said he had never been to a fashion show. “If you’re gonna do it, do it in Paris with Hedi, right?” he said with a laugh. “He is the embodiment of rock ‘n’ roll in fashion. It seems like he really, really loves music. He doesn’t pretend to love music. It’s real. I can feel it in all the things he designs. I follow him wherever he goes.”
It was Khalifa’s second Celine show in as many months, after attending its women’s event in Los Angeles in December. A big fan of the label, he chose a metallic tuxedo with an animal print that showed off his tattooed chest. “I just love the pattern, I love how it fits and I heard a good compliment, that it was like a subtle rock star moment,” he said.
Though he’ll be returning to the States too late to attend the Super Bowl, Khalifa will be rooting for the Eagles. “I’m from Pennsylvania, so the Steelers didn’t make it, so I gotta go for the next Pa. team, and it’s their first time so I’m really excited. I hope they bring that thing home,” he said. (Actually, it is the third time and the Eagles have won once.)
Nonetheless, he was sorry to miss Rihanna’s performance at the sports event. “I wish I could be there live. I was trying to get on a plane and go straight there just for the halftime show but I’m not gonna be able to make it,” he lamented.
The “See You Again” singer hopes to hit the road himself soon. “I’m working on a new album. It’s called ‘Wizzlemania.’ I’ve just been in the studio really hard working on that and getting a tour together. Me and Snoop Dogg are working on some things that people should be really excited about,” he teased.
Sitting next to him was Ava Phillippe, who took advantage of her stay in Paris to catch up on some culture. “I’ve been walking around the gardens, the Tuileries, Luxembourg gardens, and going to museums,” she reported. “They have the best museums in Paris.”
She looked dance-floor-ready in a black sequined dress with a white ruffle-collared shirt and black necktie. “It was so fun playing dress-up in the fitting,” she said. “Of course, I had to wear sparkles for the occasion, and then I just put this little top under it which I feel like made it more of an outfit.”
The performance continued after the show, with an after party featuring a performance by The Libertines, whose career Slimane has been documenting since the early 2000s. Photographers flocked to frontman Pete Doherty, who sat in the front row with his wife Katia de Vidas and his Husky dog Zeus.
The couple are gearing up for the arrival of their first child. “My wife is having a baby so I’m trying to get some pennies together so we can look after that, so I’m gonna do an intense two months of work recording and touring and then just nestle down for a couple of months with the baby,” he said. — JOELLE DIDERICH
AN OLD PRO: The Rodarte show brought the buzziest front-row guest list in the early days of NYFW to Williamsburg on Friday evening. Inside the Williamsburg Savings Bank, taking in the ornate sparkled set were plenty of Rodarte mainstays like Brie Larson, Rowan Blanchard and Tavi Gevinson, as well as Quinta Brunson, Natasha Lyonne, Kathryn Newton, Orville Peck, Charlotte Lawrence, Maddie Ziegler, Jemima Kirke, Beanie Feldstein, Michelle Zauner, Lexi Underwood, Lana Condor and Alexa Chung.
Peck has been hitting the front rows ever since he burst onto the music scene a few years ago, with a roster including Dior’s men’s show in Miami in December 2019.
“I’m an old-school goer,” he joked of his fashion week appearances.
The country star, known for wearing a fringed face mask, was indeed hidden behind such a creation, which was paired with his signature cowboy hat. However, instead of other western-style attire he was dressed in a Marni look for the night.
“I used to be more vintage-based and more in that world — and I still am, always — but like, I’m wearing Marni today. I like to wear more fashion moments, more designer moments now. I think before I was just new to that. So that’s probably the biggest evolution.”
He later would hit Rodarte’s after party, which was just one of many planned stops on his fashion week tour.
“It’s insanity, it’s a whirlwind. I don’t even know how many more shows — I just have things all day, every day. And then we go out at night to the parties and everything — typical fashion week,” he said. “I’ll be on the plane back to L.A. quaking.” — LEIGH NORDSTROM
NIGHT AT THE LIBRARY: The front row at Prabal Gurung’s fall 2023 show at the New York Public Library Friday night drew the likes of Becky G; Kelsea Ballerini; Lexi Underwood; Kimora Lee Simmons with daughters Ming Lee Simmons and Aoki Lee Simmons; Alyah Chanelle Scott; Sarita Choudhury, and more.
Becky G was trying out a new style for her at the show, wearing a miniskirt paired with a bold shoulder matching jacket.
“A little shorty like me only has so much body to wear so much fabric, so I was like, it’s either gotta be a little bit of leg or a little bit of top action,” the singer said before the show. “I have grown so much in my fashion journey. I always used to think that shoulder structures didn’t flatter me but then I tried this on and I was, like, ‘I’m obsessed.’”
The 25-year-old went on to say her fashion sense has continued to evolve as she’s grown with her music.
“I feel like just with anyone who’s an artist at heart, anything that has to do with self-expression, it does a lot for us. For me I get so excited to come to the shows to study and to learn,” she mused. “I think color and fabric and music and storytelling through these shows evoke so much emotion and that’s where I think my fashion journey started to really evolve, when I was able to start drawing a lot of strings from the connections that that has.”
Ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show by Rihanna, Becky G said like the rest of us she’s dying to hear the singer’s biggest hits.
“I mean, 13 minutes is not enough time. We’ve gone so long without her,” she said. “My favorite is ‘Umbrella.’”
She’s otherwise hard at work on her upcoming original Mexican album and preparing her Coachella performance, as well as trying to find time to plan a wedding.
“I am newly engaged so hopefully I get to plan a wedding some time,” she said. As for the dress? “I’m not going to rush that process. I’m going to take in all the beautiful designs that are being thrown my way at the moment.” — L.N.
A NEWBIE: On the heels of her “White Lotus” buzz, actress Haley Lu Richardson is clocking a few notable firsts.
“This is my first fashion week event I’ve ever been to in my life,” said Richardson on Friday morning at the Kate Spade presentation at the Whitney Museum. The actress’ next stop is Milan Fashion Week, followed by a trip to Las Vegas to meet the Jonas Brothers and catch them in concert.
“That’s kind of the biggest thing for me right now,” said Richardson, who self-describes as Nick Jonas’ biggest fan. “I’ve literally been an actor and been in L.A. for 11 years, and I haven’t once been at the same event as them or in the same room. And that was literally one of my goals of being an actor, to meet them. So now it’s finally happening over a decade later.”
While Kate Spade marks Richardson’s first fashion week moment, she was already a longtime fan of the brand.
“My first wallet ever was a Kate Spade wallet,” she said. “It was the first thing I owned that made me feel womanly and mature and adult. When I think of Kate Spade, I think of that wallet and how it made me feel. It went through a lot of phases, but for the longest time in high school I had it on a lanyard. I don’t know if that’s the most fashionable, but I was in eighth grade.”
Richardson also credited the brand’s new collection for uplifting her early morning mood. Dressed in sunny Kate Spade yellow, the actress was in bright spirits. “Honestly, I was feeling a little bit cranky this morning because I was PMSing. And then I saw all the pretty colors in there, and it made me feel happier, genuinely.”
Other VIP guests checking out Kate Spade’s latest wares included Lana Condor, Emma Roberts, Ziwe, and Quinta Brunson.
“There’s a little purse that says ‘love’ on it and a matching sweater that I saw that I’m really hoping to get my hands on,” enthused Condor after stepping out of the presentation.
The actress, donning a colorful two-piece Kate Spade tweed set, described her off-duty style as “Comfort over all things. I just love to be cozy,” she said. “And I’ve been loving super oversized big jackets, because I feel so strong and powerful.”
Condor, who lives in L.A. and is in the middle of renovating her house, plans to catch a few other fashion shows while she’s in town. “I love fashion, and I want to see what’s up,” added Condor. “But then I have some downtime, and I’m going to see the Knicks — I’m not a basketball fan, but I am going to see them. I’m going to be like, ‘good job! Make that shot!'”
Later this spring, Condor is heading to Serbia to film her next project. “It’s called ‘Ballerina Overdrive.’ It’s a ballet action movie,” said Condor. “I was a dancer before I became an actor, so I’m excited to see if I can do both.” — KRISTEN TAUER
LOVE, ALL: Lilly Pulitzer has teamed with Break the Love, a social sports app for racquet sports, to give Break the Love users exclusive first look access to the new Lilly Pulitzer Women’s Month Collection.
The capsule will be available on the Break the Love online platform starting Monday. It will also be available through Lilly Pulitzer online starting March 1.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, Lilly Pulitzer will make donations totaling $50,000 to WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Charities. In addition, proceeds from the collection’s sales on Break the Love will be donated to WTA Charities.
In honor of Women’s History Month in March, the Women’s Month Collection will introduce Holding Court, a new Lilly Pulitzer Print With Purpose. The print will support WTA Charities in their work to empower women and girls.
“We are excited to partner with Lilly Pulitzer to enable our community to give back through their Women’s Month collection to WTA Charities and support their mission to empower girls and women to access sport, community and education,” said Trisha Goyal, founder of Break the Love.
The partnership will include several special events, beginning with a panel and community tennis rally in Indian Wells during the BNP Paribas Open on March 5 at La Quinta Resort and Club. This event will feature WTA president Mickey Lawler and WTA players spanning the history of professional women’s tennis including Original 9 member and Tennis Hall of Famer Rosemary Casals, former Top 20 player Peanut Harper and a current WTA player.
Break the Love will also return to Miami this year where the partnership will include a women’s rally and opportunity to shop the Lilly Pulitzer collection on April 1.
“We’re proud to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the WTA with a partnership that honors their empowerment of girls and women. Our Holding Court Print with Purpose was designed so that everyone from casual players to pros can support WTA Charities by hitting the court in style and with confidence,” said Mira Fain, executive vice president of design and development for Lilly Pulitzer. — LISA LOCKWOOD