DUBAI: British supermodel Naomi Campbell touched down in Dubai this weekend, joining rap mogul Diddy for a stint in the sun.
The 47-year-old fashion industry heavyweight posted a series of snaps to Instagram, including a photograph of herself posing on the beach and another alongside Diddy and his longtime partner — and former R&B superstar — Cassie. Campbell wore an attention-grabbing yellow outfit designed by French fashion house Maison Margiela. Although it was ever-so-slightly reminiscent of Sesame Street’s much-loved character Big Bird, who are we to judge the legendary fashion hall of famer?
Diddy, aka Sean Combs, stayed on in the city after playing his first-ever show in the UAE on Thursday, with a gig at Gotha Club in Dubai.
The American rapper, actor and entrepreneur made his UAE debut at the Radisson Blu Dubai Waterfront Hotel in the Business Bay area of the city and was soon joined by Campbell, who jetted in after spending time at Nigeria’s Arise Fashion Week.
Campbell outshone the competition in Lagos, wearing an assortment of dresses by late Tunisian designer Azzedine AlaÏa.
It was the Arise Fashion Week’s first installment in six years and Campbell stole the spotlight in a series of patterned outfits designed by the so-called “king of cling,” who died in November 2017.
Campbell posted a clutch of photos on Instagram, including a snap in which she posed in front of a table wearing an AlaÏa dress full of cut-out red flowers. The model’s stylist Jenke Ahmed Tailly, who has also worked with the likes of Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé, completed the look by belting the dress at the waist and adding a show-stopping pair of Jackson Pollock-esque boots by Christian Louboutin. The thigh-high, stiletto boots seemed to be splattered over with paint and added even more texture and color to the kaleidoscopic outfit.
AlaÏa was a fashion iconoclast whose clingy styles helped define the 1980s and who dressed famous women from Hollywood to the White House.
Secretive and known as a fashion rebel, Alaia was based in Paris for decades but did not take part in the French capital’s seasonal fashion frenzy or flashy ad campaigns. Instead, he showed privately on his own schedule.
Alaia sometimes was dubbed the “king of cling” for the formfitting designs he first popularized during the 1980s and updated over the decades. Campbell was a favored model and Michelle Obama wore his designs as US first lady.
