DUBAI: From Imaan Hammam to Gigi and Bella Hadid, Friday night’s Harper’s Bazaar Icons party on the sidelines of New York Fashion Week was an event to remember — not least due to the headline-making alleged altercation between rappers Cardi B and Nicki Minaj on the red carpet.
The Hadid sisters looked resplendent, with Gigi opting for a black tulle dress and Bella going for a nude, semi-sheer bodysuit with a plunging neckline.
Gigi turned heads on the runway, as well as the red carpet, earlier in the week by walking in Tom Ford’s opening show on Thursday.
The spring-summer looks for all genders had the designer looking back on his long career to the simplest reason he got into the business in the first place: “I wanted to make men and women feel more beautiful and to empower them with a feeling of confidence,” he said in show notes, according to the Associated Press.
“I feel that fashion has somehow lost its way a bit,” Ford explained. “I did not want to make clothes that were ironic or clever, but simply clothes that were beautiful.”
Ford made use of flesh tones, warm whites, powder blue, blush pink and the palest lilac with touches of lace and chiffon to achieve the soft and sensuous part of Wednesday night’s equation. He offered the structure of hard leather and the sheen of fake crocodile for toughness.
There was an abundance of black, including a dreamy caped dress worn by his closer, Hadid. Kaia Gerber wore a head scarf of soft taupe, while other models swished in silk fringe paired with printed crocodile bodices, tailored animal print corsets and halters with matching biker jackets.
Back to the gossip-laden party on Friday night and Minaj and Cardi B were the center of attention as A-list guests reportedly huddled around their phones to watch footage of the fracas.
A person who witnessed the incident, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said Minaj was finishing up a conversation with someone when Cardi B tried to attack her, but Minaj’s security guards intervened, the Associated Press reported.
Video circulating on social media shows Cardi B lunging toward someone and being held back. Cardi B reportedly threw one of her shoes at Minaj. Another video shows the platinum rapper being escorted out of the event by security.
Cardi B, wearing a voluminous red Dolce & Gabbana gown, was seen leaving the party barefoot, with what appeared to be a bump on her head.
In a post on Instagram Cardi B didn’t call out Minaj by name but alluded to the fight and said she was sparked because her mothering skills were being disparaged. She and rapper Offset recently had their first child together, a girl.
Minaj has not yet commented on the incident.
