Great Outfits in Fashion History: Cardi B in the Vintage Mugler That Started It All

She’s worn a lot of great archival looks from the brand, but her “Venus” gown from the 2019 Grammys still stands out.

There are perfectly good celebrity style moments, and then there are the looks that really stick with you, the ones you try desperately to recreate at home. In ‘Great Outfits in Fashion History,’ Fashionista editors are revisiting their all-time favorite lewks.

Every time Cardi B steps out in Mugler, people talk. (Look no further than the coverage around her most recent outing — her first post-baby — for the opening of the “Thierry Mugler: Couturissime” exhibition in Paris.)

Over the years, she and stylist Kollin Carter have done something special: Not only have they been able to pinpoint specific looks from the archive worth resurrecting to create impactful visuals and generate buzz, they’ve forged a relationship with the house that they’ve continued to build upon, to strengthen their collaboration. It all began at the 2019 Grammys, with what has arguably been one of the best looks to come out of this exchange.

The rapper arrived on the red carpet wearing a sculptural vintage 1995/1996 Thierry Mugler Couture ensemble that made it look like she was the sequin-covered pearl emerging from a clam shell.

Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Carter told WWD in 2019 that he DM’d the Mugler brand on Instagram months before the carpet, which got him and Cardi a meeting with its current creative director, Casey Cadwallader, an invitation to attend his runway debut for the house and an offer to mine the Mugler archives. He already had one specific look on the mind, though.

“From the moment I saw it, I knew it was going to be a debatable moment,” he told WWD of the pink satin and black velvet “Venus” gown with the embellished bodysuit that Cardi would end up wearing on the red carpet. “Some people would love it and some people would hate it and that’s everything we’re about when it comes to fashion. It’s meant to create a conversation.”

It didn’t end there: Cardi and Carter also pulled a 1996/1996 black bodysuit with a “Peacock” crinoline skirt for her to wear for her performance and a 1997 embellished white “Les Insectes” couture gown to accept a Grammy on stage that year.

Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Since then, she’s continued to wear the brand — both vintage and current — on the red carpet, in photo shoots, on Instagram and in music videos. And every time, it’s a Great Outfit.

Shop Mugler — and Mugler-esque — pieces inspired by Cardi in the gallery, bel