Someone brought up the other day whether it’s cheating to wear the designer who’s being honored, and I see that point, but have decided I don’t think it is. Rihanna certainly had a leg up because Kawakubo — only the second living designer to get her own exhibit — was around to whip that up herself, but even so, once you hit the carpet then it’s on you to do the work. We’ve seen plenty of custom stuff that fails. So I’m going to argue the opposite: that if you are wearing the honored designer, it’s actually harder to nail it, because there will be nothing more obvious than if that tribute is weakly deployed. There is still an art to picking a dress.
Comme des Garçons is also a high degree of difficulty. It’s the quadruple axle of outfits. It’s to Tracee’s massive credit that she’s wearing this and holding her own in it. She’s giving it enough confidence that I can appreciate the weird artistry of its construction, rather than wincing at it being overpowering. She was probably also right to slick back her hair and keep the makeup simple, although I do find myself wishing she’d brought the curls out to play and slashed on some red lippy. I suspect that’s my default position, though, and I need to realize it isn’t always going to apply.
Check out well she works it while walking:
I think Tracee Ellis Ross might be my idol.
[Photos: Getty, Ben Gabbe/Getty Images]
