In Paris, Cardi B tears up a fashion show all of her own

“I’m here to serve it to ya motherfuckers, and serve it to you cold,” Cardi B piped in 2019, tottering about the Eiffel Tower, face completely obscured in a floral-printed morph suit, “you bitches could really never”. In Paris, every rue is a runway for the Bronx-born rapper, and every street corner’s a photo opportunity, turning out hot couture courtesy of fashion’s most directional designers. That granny-cum-gimp ensemble was, of course, the work of Richard Quinn, and two years later, Belcalis has returned to her fashion week form – this time in a Pinhead-inspired leather jacket, bristling with metal spikes, by the same London designer. 

When Cardi rapped “every other day new wig new hair / come take me out this Mugler,” she wasn’t talking about current creative director Casey Cadwallader, but Thierry himself, for whom she has become something of a late muse. Joining the designer at the Musee Des Arts Decoratifs for the opening of his retrospective, Cardi stepped out in an all-crimson, all-sequined, all-feathered piece from Mugler’s AW95 collection. It wasn’t long, however, and the self-professed “Mugler Mami” swapped out the plunging, crystal-encrusted bodice for a black, insect-like SS97 bodysuit – meandering, hand in hand with Mugler, around the exhibition space. 

And, on the third day, she rose again, this time wearing custom Schiapparelli from Daniel Roseberry’s most recent collection. The outfit comprised a tweed jacket with golden breastplates – Cardi loves a breastplate – a dismembered face, which she wore as a necklace, and an enormous headpiece with sunglass inserts. Though her plans were blighted by a crush of photographers and screeching Parisien teenagers, Cardi seemingly had no real place to go anyway, thinking the surreal supervillain look perfect for a midday stroll around Le Marais. 

Proving a rival to the runways themselves, Belcalis has yet to attend a show at Paris Fashion Week and honestly – good for her. As for what else she has lingering in her closet, though? A stockpile of Chanel, probably, given that Offset dropped €34,290 in the label’s flagship this week. And you just know she’s got a sweep of those salopettes at the ready for a mooch around Monoprix.