Cardi B on 18 Looks: Setting Trends, Wearing Archive Couture, and Walking Through a Fever

Defending the Floral Gucci Era

She starts with her earliest look, a floral Gucci print worn with platform Gucci sneakers. She says she wouldn't wear it now, but she won't disown it. The floral Gucci print "was popping" at the time, and she chose sneakers over heels because she wanted something fun. She says the platform sneakers were what everyone wanted. She had recently seen people online asking what the outfit was, and her reply is that anyone who dislikes it "ain't had no bread in 2017." In her view, everyone admired the look back then and only calls it ugly now.

The First Grammys and a Trend She Says She Started

For her first Grammys outfit in 2018, she wore Ashi Studio, which she describes as an Arabic designer. She calls the gown "angelic" and "majestic" and says the hair was styled to match it. She also says she started a trend with it: after she wore that kind of dress, "so many people" wore similar ones. Nobody will admit it, she says, but she has seen it.

Invasion of Privacy: The Album That Came With Motherhood

The cover art for her debut studio album is the look she ties most closely to her identity. She says black-and-white checkers, and yellow with black and white, make people think of Cardi B. The album matters to her because she made it while becoming a mother for the first time. She is careful not to say she "set an example." She does say she showed many women they could keep working hard and "beat the odds" while dealing with a new baby, the media, and criticism. "It's 7 years later, four kids later, I'm still here," she says.

The album won Best Rap Album, but she says that isn't the main reason it means so much. What mattered more was proving she wasn't a one-hit wonder. A single hit can raise that question, and she saw the album as her answer.

Dolce & Gabbana at the AMAs and What It Takes to Keep Working

She calls her 2018 AMAs look, a Dolce & Gabbana outfit covered in flowers, gorgeous. She says she wants something like it for the Latin section of her tour. She loves flowers, even the bouquet tied at the back, and she points out the touches of red in the makeup and earrings. "It just never dies," she says.

Then she talks about work more generally. She says she isn't someone who finds life or work hard, and she loves her job. Still, doing the same thing every day makes anyone tired. People are "put in this world to work" and have to survive, so you either "suck it up or you cry." She expects to work until she's 90. Her own routine, as she puts it: "I suck it up. I cry. I shop it. I live it."

"Money": Gareth Pugh and the Cracked-Egg Hair

She says the "Money" music video is one of fans' favorites. She insists that nobody had seen anything like her Gareth Pugh outfit before she wore it. She knows this sounds like bragging and tells viewers to check the dates. She describes the piece as looking almost like it was made of wood, though it wasn't, and calls Pugh a genius. She also points to the hair, which she compares to a cracked egg.

Archive Mugler at the 2019 Grammys

For the 2019 Grammys she wore archive couture Thierry Mugler. She says her team always asks how to top the last moment, and this one was very hard to top. The piece is vintage, "in a museum," and nobody else was wearing it. She compares it to a Marie Antoinette dress and says she wore it all night. She pays tribute to Mugler: "Shout out to Mr. Mugler in heaven. We miss you so much."

Thom Browne at the Met Gala

She is most emotional about her 2019 Met Gala dress by Thom Browne. She explains that every ostrich feather was attached by hand, one at a time, and that the dress took many hours to make. She also mentions ruby stones placed on the chest. She remembers the fitting clearly: the whole Thom Browne team was nervous, she was nervous too, and everyone was excited.

She thinks Thom Browne sees this as his greatest piece, and she agrees. She says she's honored to have worn it, that it still goes viral, and that people recreate it. It makes her sad that she can't wear these outfits twice. She calls it "one of the best Met Gala looks ever" and predicts it will be talked about "in graduations, weddings, anniversaries."

Gaultier for Hustlers and Thom Browne Again in Paris

For the Hustlers period she wore Jean Paul Gaultier. She says he uses this print often, and what she likes here is the mix of purple, yellow, and green, plus the sunglasses with a hint of red that add a pop of color.

The next look is also Thom Browne, worn to one of his couture shows in Paris. She says it made her look "clean, classy," like she was "about to teach these girls a lesson." She praises his shoes and mentions that he gave her the bag, which she still has at home.

"WAP": Coordinating With Megan Thee Stallion

She calls the "WAP" outfits, designed by Nicolas Jebran, one of the pairings she's proudest of. They chose yellow for Megan Thee Stallion because it "pops so beautiful on her skin," and Cardi wore pink. She tells viewers to rewatch the video, which she describes as "fashion after fashion, after color after color." She believes it changed music videos because it offered more than choreography and a song. It was about fashion.

Pregnant in New York: A Street-Style Look

A 2021 New York look shows what she calls her "hip-hop" and "hood chick" side. She was very pregnant with her second child, her first son. She wore sneakers and a Chanel bag, and she says the Givenchy sunglasses were very hard to find. She claims the stacked necklaces were another trend she started.

Balenciaga, a Fever, and an Unplanned Exit

Of her first Balenciaga look, she says you "cannot even see my face" and it still worked. She loves the earrings, the diamonds against the lip, and the black velvet hat, and says photos don't do it justice.

The second Balenciaga look (2023 in the video's chapters) comes with a story. She had a fever that day and decided she could handle it. On the runway the sun was strong and she was wearing fur. She kept telling herself that if she fainted, "it's Balenciaga. They're going to think it's a stunt." She noticed an odd exit in the middle of the runway and took it. People thought it was part of the show, but she says she was about to pass out. Kim Kardashian came to check on her afterward, and Cardi told her she had almost died out there but was fine.

She also likes the dark lip with the blue. This was the first time she wore very thin eyebrows, which she calls "thin Mexican '90s eyebrows," and she liked them enough to keep them for a while.

Marc Jacobs and the 2025 Grammys

She wore Marc Jacobs to his New York show. She admits the look "is not for everybody" and calls it girly. She says Marc Jacobs puts his fun personality into his clothes and never goes out of style.

For the 2025 Grammys she wore a cabaret-inspired sequined look. She says she doesn't usually like sequins, but these looked rich because of how the colors worked together. She praises the makeup, contacts, and hair, and says she'd like to do the look again.

Schiaparelli and Mr. Crow

The 2025 Schiaparelli show had a personal backstory. Two days earlier, a crow bit her during the shoot for her album announcement. She decided to face that fear and hold a crow at the Schiaparelli show. Even the handler doubted it, telling her the birds aren't used to being around people. The crow sat calmly on her hand the whole show. She jokes that it enjoyed the attention. From Paris, she says she'd like to call the handler and see "Mr. Crow" again to tell him "we won number one," and that she misses him.

About the outfit, she says it was a departure because she was completely covered. She usually likes to show some skin, but she felt "pretty and sexy" this way.

Gaurav Gupta in Riyadh

She wore Gaurav Gupta to perform at Soundstorm in Saudi Arabia. She says she misses the country ("Hey, Saudi, call me"). She calls the outfit delicate, pretty, and rich. Its one drawback was the heat, and she says she'd perform in something like it again only with strong air conditioning.

The Vogue Arabia Cover

The last look is from her 2026 Vogue Arabia cover. She says the goal was something "presidential" and "very clean." She thinks she has had five or six Vogue covers, naming Mexico and America and adding Singapore with less certainty. She says each cover still feels as exciting as the first, that she would never turn one down, and that she'd do the cover "for every country." She ends by thanking Vogue from Paris.