After winning the Grammy for Best Rap Album earlier this year, former Dazed cover star Doechii just made her debut on the Met steps wearing a custom Louis Vuitton short suit. Working with this year’s co-chair Pharrell to create the look, Doechii opted for an LV monogrammed design, complete with tailcoat and burgundy neck tie.
Inspired by the exhibition theme, taken from Monica L. Miller’s book of the same name, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, Doechii paid tribute to one particular historical character, Julius Soubise. “I was heavily inspired by Monica L. Miller’s book and the exhibit. We studied a little bit on this character called Julius Soubise which really stood out to me. I feel very inspired by him tonight,” explained Doechii during an interview on the carpet.
Soubise was an 18th century dandy, who was originally born enslaved on the Caribbean island of St Kitts. The British Royal Navy took him to England, where he was handed over to Catherine Hyde Douglas, the duchess of Queensberry. Under the duchess, he became a member of the aristocracy and studied fencing and equestrianism, before he became a teacher himself. By the 1770s, he was one of the most well known Black men in England.
In Miller’s book, she describes Soubise as having worn “diamond buckled, red heeled shoes as he circulated through the social scenes of eighteenth century London.” Though Doechii didn’t opt for red heels, she did wear chunky burgundy Mary Janes and an 18th-century inspired tailcoat. She used a cigar as a prop on the carpet, with the LV logo printed onto her cheek. The rapper gave us a teaser yesterday (April 24), when she posted a picture recreating the famous image of André Leon Talley carrying Louis Vuitton luggage.
Over the course of the past year, Doechii – with the help of her stylist Sam Woolf – has quickly risen to become one of today’s most fashionable stars. This may have been her first Met, but it certainly won’t be her last.