Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger is good at keeping his finger on the pulse, something which he demonstrated to full effect on March 2, with the Tommy x Zendaya runway show in Paris.
The debut collection co-designed with the brand's new global ambassador, actress Zendaya, the 1970s-themed show was ground-breaking in that it only cast women of colour as models. If that was not exciting enough, however, the final look was worn by none than the legendary Jamaican model, singer and actress Grace Jones.
The 70-year-old Jones danced on the runway to the strains of her 1981 song Pull up to the Bumper, wearing a gold lamé body suit, thigh-length oxblood boots, and a multicoloured striped lurex jacket. Not many septuagenarians could pull off that look, but the irrepressible Ms Jones absolutely smashed it.
No stranger to stealing the limelight, the I Need a Man singer (and arguable the only person to sing La Vie En Rose better that Edith Piaf, but I digress) is well used to turning up to events and taking over, and this event was no exception. Jones even managing to upstage fellow models Jourdan Dunn and Winnie Harlow.
The 79-look collection, put together by Zendaya and Tommy Hilfiger, was an homage to the glory days of Studio 54 (where the antics of Jones helped secure the reputation of both), with platform shoes, gold and plenty of shimmer. While it will probably not be a collection that museums will be queuing to archive, it will go down in history for restoring the indomitable Jones to her rightful place – the centre of attention.
