Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the shoot here!
Stylistically, it's hard to pinpoint what it is exactly about Kanye West's muse, Amber Rose, that shocked the usually unshockable fashion illuminati during New York, London, and Paris fashion weeks. (Her bottle-blond Caesar? Her extensive collection of windshield-size sunglasses? Her in-your-face curves? Her in-your-face curves wrapped in a spectrum of neon spandex?) What is clear is that her aesthetic isn't of the moment—it's ahead of it, from a far-flung dimension where women dress like superheroes. When Rose showed up at the Yves Saint Laurent show in Paris last March on West's arm, she donned a skintight black bodysuit, channeling Michelle Pfeiffer's sexed-up leather Catwoman costume, only filling out her open-backed version a little more, you know, thoroughly. "My hips are a 38 and my waist is a 24, so I have a very womanly body," says Rose, who purchased the catsuit at a thrift store in her hometown of South Philly (she thinks it's originally from Contempo Casuals, though she can't remember exactly) for "$10 at the most." It's as if she dropped out of the sky, a subversive dresser fully formed and the only logical helpmeet for West, who, over the years, has morphed from a label-happy MC, flaunting a smorgasbord of luxury pieces, to a serious student of fashion with a honed sensibility for what looks right this minute.
When asked about the collaborative process with West on their inaugural shoot for ELLE, Rose laughs. "We're total opposites," she says. "He'll pick out something and I'll be like, `Oh, God, I don't like that at all.' And then I'll pick out something and he'll be like `Babe, just...no.' I'm more electric pink and bright yellow. And Kanye's more like nude and bone. Like, bone is his favorite color. I'm like, whose favorite color is bone?" Rose, a video vixen who's appeared in music videos including Ludacris' "What Them Girls Like," Young Jeezy's "Vacation," and West's "Robocop," recently signed a contract with Ford Models and is planning to study acting and possibly launch her own line of sunglasses. She admits that she and West "are dating and enjoying each other's company," but is adamant that her personal style is just that, personal. "I'm not like his Barbie," says Rose about West, who wanted her to try on a gown for the Metropolitan Opera's 125th Anniversary Gala at Lincoln Center in March. Instead, Rose chose an all-white cocktail wrapdress by Alexander Wang, complete with a thigh-flashing slit.
"I didn't want to wear a long gown," Rose says. "So then we get to the Met and everybody has a long gown. I was like, great. I didn't know what the Met was!"
SEE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOOT ON THE NEXT PAGE
Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the shoot here!
Embellished jersey bodysuit, Sportmax, $785, at Sportmax, NYC, call 212-674-1817. Vintage cutoff shorts, from What Goes Around Comes Around, $148, call 212-343-1225. Sunglasses, Fendi, $600, at Fendi, NYC, call 212-759-4646. Yellow gold and pavé diamond earrings, Andrea Lieberman for Mouawad, $4,500, at Maxfield, L.A., call 310-274-8800. Fox-fur-trim suede boots, Altuzarra for Gianvito Rossi, $1,875, at Capitol, Charlotte, NC, call 704-366-0388.
Onyx pyramid ring, Kara by Kara Ross, $285, visit net-a-porter.com. Vintage Harley Davidson vest, from What Goes Around Comes Around, $98, call 212-343-1225.
Sequin-detail stretch bodysuit, Giorgio Armani, $3,775, at Giorgio Armani, NYC. Sterling silver knuckle ring, $175, nickel cuff, $3,500, both, Robert Lee Morris, at The Robert Lee Morris Gallery, NYC, call 212-431-9405. Polished silver pyramid earrings, Kenneth Jay Lane, $50, call 877-953-5264. White gold, diamond, and rock crystal pyramid ring, Kara Ross, price upon request, at Bergdorf Goodman, NYC. Ponyskin boots, Tania Spinelli, $1,380, call 212-391-0050 or visit gregmillsltd.com.
Crystal-detail silk dress, Blumarine, $4,255, visit blumarine.com. Grosgrain and satin headband (on arm), Dolce & Gabbana, $795, call 877-70-DG-USA or visit dolcegabbana.it. Onyx pyramid ring, Kara by Kara Ross, $285, visit net-a-porter.com. Velvet boots, Alexander Wang, $590, visit alexanderwang.com.
Embellished jersey hood, Sportmax, $345, call 212-674-1817.
