After facing backlash, Cardi B is explaining why she referred to the designer of her voluminous Met Gala gown as “Asian and everything” instead of by his name.
The “I Like It” rapper — who wore a massive tulle gown by Sensen Lii of Windowsen — said she was very scared when she arrived at the New York event and felt rushed, failing to recall his name during a high-profile interview on Monday.
”First and first, when I was on the red carpet, I was very scared,” the Grammy-winning “Bodak Yellow” emcee said in an Instagram Story video. “The dress was supposed to be on a little podium, and I’ve been practicing how to pose on the podium. But on the carpet, I wasn’t allowed to use the podium. So I had a lot of things in my mind, and I was being rushed to the front of the line.”
Cardi said she forgot how to pronounce Lii’s name because “his name is a little bit complicated.”
“I was like, ‘Damn.’ How do I pronounce his name? My mind was just racing,” she added. Noting that she “didn’t want to be offensive,” she explained that she said “Asian designer” because “I knew the designer was Asian, but I wasn’t sure what nationality the designer was.”
Cardi B, who also wore a towering black turban, misnamed her designer Monday in an interview with Vogue. The dress was so enormous that it required at least seven handlers to accompany the rapper, who said the gown was heavier than her and so big that it was giving her a headache and making her nauseated.
“It’s work,” she told Vogue’s Emma Chamberlain, adding, “I feel amazing. It’s this amazing designer. They’re Asian and everything.”
Lii is Chinese-born, has ateliers in Shanghai and Paris and is now based in Antwerp, Belgium. The designer is known for his clubwear aesthetic and theatrical flair, and his work has been worn by Madonna, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Blackpink, Doja Cat, FKA Twigs and Grimes, as well as top Chinese actor Fan Bingbing, who was an early supporter, according to Business of Fashion.
Vogue‘s former managing director, Gilbert Cheah, who is Peranakan (Chinese and Malay-Indonesian heritage), was among those who called out the “Hustlers” star online, writing on Instagram: “For the record and recognition, and no thanks to Cardi B, the designer of her gown is Sensen Lii who’s Chinese. The gown took two months to make. I personally think it’s boring and not even on theme but she chose it and should have at least remembered his name and not just that he’s ‘Asian.’”
Cardi B continued her mea culpa in a separate Instagram Story post, giving another shoutout to design house Windowsen, which she said she chose because of its “amazing talent.”
“You came through really making this Met Gala a night to remember Sensen Lii,” the “WAP” and “Up” lyricist wrote. Lii reposted her story on Wednesday thanking her right back.
In a post on Windowsen’s Instagram grid, the designer wrote that he created the couture gown for Cardi to build on this year’s “Garden of Time” theme for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s annual fundraiser.
“I associated fertile, Vast Black Soil with the theme —All kinds of beautiful flowers grow on the Vast Black Soil, rich earth used for planting Crops and flowers. A single black rose grows in this Vast Black Soil,” Lii said. “The whole dress uses nearly 3000 meters of organza. It symbolizes the vastness of the land.”
The comments against Cardi B took root in the comments section of Lii’s post, although some spun the debacle into a fruitful PR moment.
“Why did you dress this bozo she didn’t even know who you were!!!!!” one user wrote in the comments section.
“AND NOT KNOWING YOUR NAME IS INSANE,” wrote another.
“Her mistake ended up being a blessing. Look at how many people know your name now!!! Silver lining people…. Silver lining!!!” wrote a third.
“The fact that she forgot, honestly probably brought you more publicity than if she were to have just said the name in the first place. Rage comments drive views and visits and engagement … she knew what she was doing,” another user added.