Latest news with #Blackdandy
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Madonna's Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford Met Gala Look Came Together in Just 3 Weeks
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways On Monday, Madonna made her return to the Met Gala after a seven-year hiatus. For this year's theme of 'tailored for you,' Madonna wore a Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann: a cream double-breasted tuxedo in peached silk, complete with a crisp white piqué plastron shirt paired with a white piqué bow tie. The look was finished off with jewels by Diamonds Direct. It almost wasn't even a reality, says Madonna's stylist Rita Melssen. More from WWD 'She actually wasn't going to go, it wasn't even really on her radar. And then someone brought it up to her, and of course she was like, 'this is an incredible theme and I want to support and I want to show up,' Melssen says. 'We did some really deep, deep dives, deep research, got really into Black dandy over the decades. What did that look like from the 1800s into the 2000s and all the different iterations and versions of it. Her and I really just sat down. We shared feedback, we shared images. It was a really collaborative process between the both of us.' Melssen felt there were any number of directions they could go in when it came to a designer to work with, until someone sent her an image of Madonna's iconic 1995 VMA look wearing a Tom Ford for Gucci blue silk button-down shirt. 'I was like, 'wait, Haider just had this incredible, incredible season and the first collection [at Tom Ford], and I had actually met him when he came to her tour in Paris.' Madonna She gave him a call and the response was an immediate 'yes.' 'He has such a deep reverence for M and everything she stood for. Haider also is adopted, and she has four adopted children. And so there was a really deep connection there. Haider also grew up in Africa, and M obviously does so much work in Africa and Malawi and with her charities, so there was already sort of this overlap and connection there,' Melssen says. 'When I called him he was like, 'I want to make her just so powerful and elegant and show just the essence of who she is.'' The whole look came together in just about three weeks. The look drew inspiration from Gladys Bentley, a Black lesbian blues singer in New York City in the 1920s. 'Gladys Bentley was one of the original Black female dandies. She was a performer in Harlem around the Harlem Renaissance, and she used to wear these incredible white suits, like a white tail coat, white shirt, white hat, white pants,' Melssen says. 'And she was a Black lesbian during that time, which was unheard of. And so she really pushed a lot of boundaries and she made people see gender and identity in a very different way and was really a trailblazer in that way.' Haider Ackermann and Madonna Madonna was immediately interested in Bentley as a reference when Melssen suggested the idea. 'Of course it's very different, don't get me wrong. But there's just so many ways in which when M was coming up, she also challenged gender identity and what a woman can and can't do, also in reverence to all the women that came before her,' Melssen says. 'In her own way, M is a dandy, to have this audacity to push boundaries and to push people to think of her and women in general in a very different way.' The first time Madonna tried the look on for Melssen and Ackermann and the Tom Ford team, the whole room knew it was the one. 'Haider was standing next to me and the literal hairs on his arms raised and he had goosebumps,' Melssen says. 'So we all slept well that night.' View Gallery Launch Gallery: Met Gala 2025 Red Carpet Arrivals Photos, Live Updates Best of WWD Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Madonna's Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford Met Gala Look Came Together in Just 3 Weeks
On Monday, Madonna made her return to the Met Gala after a seven-year hiatus. For this year's theme of 'tailored for you,' Madonna wore a Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann: a cream double-breasted tuxedo in peached silk, complete with a crisp white piqué plastron shirt paired with a white piqué bow tie. The look was finished off with jewels by Diamonds Direct. It almost wasn't even a reality, says Madonna's stylist Rita Melssen. More from WWD ADVERTISEMENT 'She actually wasn't going to go, it wasn't even really on her radar. And then someone brought it up to her, and of course she was like, 'this is an incredible theme and I want to support and I want to show up,' Melssen says. 'We did some really deep, deep dives, deep research, got really into Black dandy over the decades. What did that look like from the 1800s into the 2000s and all the different iterations and versions of it. Her and I really just sat down. We shared feedback, we shared images. It was a really collaborative process between the both of us.' Melssen felt there were any number of directions they could go in when it came to a designer to work with, until someone sent her an image of Madonna's iconic 1995 VMA look wearing a Tom Ford for Gucci blue silk button-down shirt. 'I was like, 'wait, Haider just had this incredible, incredible season and the first collection [at Tom Ford], and I had actually met him when he came to her tour in Paris.' Madonna She gave him a call and the response was an immediate 'yes.' ADVERTISEMENT 'He has such a deep reverence for M and everything she stood for. Haider also is adopted, and she has four adopted children. And so there was a really deep connection there. Haider also grew up in Africa, and M obviously does so much work in Africa and Malawi and with her charities, so there was already sort of this overlap and connection there,' Melssen says. 'When I called him he was like, 'I want to make her just so powerful and elegant and show just the essence of who she is.'' The whole look came together in just about three weeks. The look drew inspiration from Gladys Bentley, a Black lesbian blues singer in New York City in the 1920s. 'Gladys Bentley was one of the original Black female dandies. She was a performer in Harlem around the Harlem Renaissance, and she used to wear these incredible white suits, like a white tail coat, white shirt, white hat, white pants,' Melssen says. 'And she was a Black lesbian during that time, which was unheard of. And so she really pushed a lot of boundaries and she made people see gender and identity in a very different way and was really a trailblazer in that way.' Haider Ackermann and Madonna Madonna was immediately interested in Bentley as a reference when Melssen suggested the idea. ADVERTISEMENT 'Of course it's very different, don't get me wrong. But there's just so many ways in which when M was coming up, she also challenged gender identity and what a woman can and can't do, also in reverence to all the women that came before her,' Melssen says. 'In her own way, M is a dandy, to have this audacity to push boundaries and to push people to think of her and women in general in a very different way.' The first time Madonna tried the look on for Melssen and Ackermann and the Tom Ford team, the whole room knew it was the one. 'Haider was standing next to me and the literal hairs on his arms raised and he had goosebumps,' Melssen says. 'So we all slept well that night.' View Gallery Launch Gallery: Met Gala 2025 Red Carpet Arrivals Photos, Live Updates ADVERTISEMENT Best of WWD Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Business Recorder
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Recorder
Stars shine in tailored looks at Met Ball celebration of Black style
NEW YORK: Singer Rihanna revealed her third pregnancy, Pharrell Williams sported a jacket with 15,000 pearls and musician Andre 3000 strapped a piano to his back as celebrities celebrated Black style and tailoring at the Met Gala fundraiser on Monday. Mostly black-and-white looks populated the daffodil-accented deep-blue carpet covering the steps to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Guests arrived as assistants sheltered them under umbrellas in the heavy rain. Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and actor Colman Domingo, co-chairs of the gala, were among the first of the stars of sports, music, film and television to appear. Domingo wore a full-length royal blue pleated cloak falling from a gold-and-white casing around his shoulders. He removed the cloak to reveal a bejeweled, checkered black-and-white jacket and grey trousers. Hamilton chose an ivory suit with a beret. The last to arrive was Rihanna, who sported a wide-brimmed black hat and a striped, corseted bodice that hugged her stomach. Her partner, musician A$AP Rocky, had arrived earlier and confirmed that Rihanna was pregnant with the couple's third child. In between, former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris had made her way into the event. She was not spotted on the carpet, but the Democratic Party posted a photo of her on social media in a long black-and-white gown. Andre 3000 turned heads with one of the most over-the-top looks - a replica of a piano that he hauled on his back like a backpack. Williams, the musician and creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear, wore black tuxedo pants paired with an ivory jacket adorned with 15,000 pearls. The Met Gala, a fundraiser for the art museum's Costume Institute, has become known for its roster of A-list celebrities in extravagant outfits. This year's guests were told to dress according to the theme 'Tailored for You,' a nod to the exhibit called 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' at the museum's Costume Institute. The exhibit focuses on an elegant Black dandy aesthetic. The theme was chosen before the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, who launched an assault on diversity and inclusion efforts during the first weeks of his second term. Andrew Bolton, head curator of the Costume Institute, said that even though work began on the exhibit in 2022, 'in this current political climate, it resonates very differently. Timing is everything.' 'Euphoria' actor Sydney Sweeney shimmered in a fitted sparkling black gown with her hair slicked back in a bun. Her co-star Zendaya wore a white silk suit with a brimmed hat. Some pops of color made a statement on the carpet. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles stood out in a short bright blue dress with a white collar. Director Spike Lee wore a black suit with a silver crossbody bag, orange glasses and an orange New York Knicks cap. Singer Chappell Roan donned hot pink. Among the notable accessories, Bad Bunny carried a brown and yellow bowling-style bag and Tessa Thompson had a fan with an image of the late fashion journalist Andre Leon Talley, who many cited as an inspiration for their outfits. Other attendees included musicians Stevie Wonder and Shaboozey and actors Demi Moore, Nicole Kidman and Cynthia Erivo. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, honorary chair of the event, could not attend because of a knee injury. 'Hate to miss an historical event!' James wrote on social media platform X.
