“I’ve gotten to a place in the last few years where I’ve felt really confident about following my instinct and leaning on myself. It’s been a nice few years finding what I wanted to do with my life and my career,” Addison Rae tells Vanity Fair the morning after the CFDA Awards.
It’s a moment of reflection for the pop protégé, who attended the event on Monday in an ensemble from Thom Browne. As she got ready for a night out at the Museum of Natural History in New York, where the Council of Fashion Designers of America honored excellence in American fashion design, Rae listened to her own music, including, “Aquamarine.” The latest addition to her growing catalog helped to inspire the whimsical-but-tailored mermaid look that she wore on the red carpet. “And ‘Diet Pepsi’ too!” she says, adding another one of her own tunes to the playlist. “It was really, really sweet and incredible seeing everyone singing along to the songs. It was such a surreal feeling.”
In “Aquamarine,” Rae sings, “The world is my oyster, / And I’m the only girl,” a sentiment that must have rung true when Thom Browne opened up their archives for Rae and her collaborator, Interview’s fashion director, Dara Allen, to explore. The two, who first started working together back in September for Rae’s VMAs look, and then for her “Aquamarine” music video, rummaged through racks at the Thom Browne office before deciding on the pièces de résistance, a SS18 mermaid skirt featuring iridescent paillette and tulle madras embroidery. “It was so stunning even hanging,” Rae says. “We have to just do the mermaid theme. We have to go for it. It’s so serendipitous.”
By Quil Lemons.
Allen and Rae tried a few different options before ultimately pairing the curve-hugging skirt with a signature gray Thom Browne corset that cinched Rae into an hourglass shape, and a strand of Mikimoto pearls, bringing new meaning to the term “office siren.” “It just felt perfect,” she says of the look. The skirt, which cascaded out from under Browne’s exquisite tailoring, reflected the light in such a way that Rae appeared to have just emerged from the water like a mermaid making her way onto land to live out the night as a human.
To bring the fantasy further into the real world, Rae worked with the legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath, who she calls a “visionary” with “an aquamarine heart,” to complement her bright blond beach waves. “Every look she creates speaks volumes, and she knows exactly how to make a girl feel beautiful,” Rae says.”I’m so lucky to work with her for these special moments.”