Kelela traverses the worlds of Brooklyn’s edgiest up-and-coming designers and the runways of Europe’s highest fashion houses with ease. She’s currently one of the style world’s most sought-after front-row guests on both sides of the Atlantic, and it’s easy to see why. The Warp Records-signed musician can wear clothes from just about any house while still managing to remain true to her personal aesthetic. Often, that’s because she’s not afraid to bring in her own sensibility through her styling and beauty looks. She’ll match an all-white outfit with all-white eyelashes, or edge up a ladylike dress with a pair of black leather boots. Here, a look back at the Raven singer’s best red carpet and front-row moments.
Hot off the release of Rave:n, the Remixes, Kelela remixed the witch aesthetic with a bit of lingerie dressing for Del Core during Milan Fashion Week.
At an event for Burberry in New York City, Kelela helped designer Daniel Lee usher in a definitive new era for the brand’s signature check.
Appropriate for Kelela, this flowing Courrèges garment is almost unclassifiable (dress? Long shirt? Jumpsuit? Who cares when it looks this good?).
2023: Bottega Veneta Show
For most, monochrome dressing means matching the color of your clothes. For Kelela, it means matching your eyelashes as well.
Kelela helped bring out the cool-girl edge of Maximilian Davis’s designs for Ferragamo while attending his spring 2024 presentation.
Outside Courrèges, Kelela proved all black can be anything but boring.
Shades on, collar out, shirt unbuttoned for Prada’s spring 2024 show.
Opting for a bob haircut, Kelela showed off Maximilian Davis’s signature color palette of black and red for Ferragamo.
For Bottega, she paired a sheer dress with a boxy blazer and statement disco boots. A lot of people would lose themselves in this styling—but not Kelela, who pulls it off with ease.
2019: Vogue Foundation Dinner
Kelela wore Mugler for a Vogue Foundation dinner in Paris.
If you’re lucky enough to wear one of Paco Rabanne’s metal mesh dresses, you might as well go all the way with it.
2019: CFDA Fashion Awards
Kelela’s unapologetically bright yellow dress is just another reminder of why we miss the now-shuttered house of Sies Marjan.
For her first Met Gala, Kelela was dressed as a human disco ball by Paco Rabanne.
Kelela gave designer Christoper Kane’s twisted English sensibilities some American edge for this CFDA event.
She paired Paco’s trademark metal work with a softer faux-fur coat.
Kelela attended, modeled, and performed at Telfar’s 2018 runway show-slash-all-star jam session.
She was the classic Chloé cool girl for the French brand’s show back in 2018.
2018: Acne Studios Cocktail
In 2018, Acne hosted a cocktail for an exhibition featuring the works of artists, but Kelela’s hair and makeup that night were also a masterpiece.
She went for double denim at a Louis Vuitton show in 2015.