Most artists treat NPR’s Tiny Desk like a dress-down gig. Cardi B treated it like a runway. For her Tiny Desk concert, released October 19, she showed up in a Thierry Mugler power jacket pulled straight from the designer’s fall 1990 ready-to-wear collection. That’s our Shoot of the Week.
Watch the Set
Video: NPR Music / Tiny Desk. Director and editor: Kara Frame.
The Look
The black jacket is classic Mugler armor: five-point star studs, wide lapels and metal buckles cinching the waist. HelloBeautiful reports Naomi Campbell first wore it on the runway around 1990. Cardi paired it with glossy black leather leggings and a dramatic beehive with full bangs. HelloBeautiful credits the styling to her longtime stylist Kollin Carter.
Why It Hit
Tiny Desk is supposed to strip things down. No stage, no lights, just a bookshelf and a band. Cardi leaned into the contrast. She kept the energy loose and funny, but the outfit said she still came to compete. Wearing 36-year-old archive Mugler at a desk in an office is a flex that fashion people catch instantly, and it fits the long-running Cardi and Kollin Carter love affair with the label.
The music matched the fit. Backed by a full band led by music director Adam Blackstone, she ran through “Hello,” “ErrTime,” “Man of Your Word,” “Be Careful,” “Up,” “AH HA,” “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It.” Hits, a horn section and a museum-grade jacket. That’s how you do a Tiny Desk.
Sources
- NPR via WUNC: Cardi B Tiny Desk Concert
- W Magazine: Cardi B Casually Wears a Rare ’90s Mugler Jacket
- HelloBeautiful: Cardi B Went To Work At NPR’s Tiny Desk In Vintage Mugler
