Naomi Campbell hosts a parade with guests like Emily Ratajkowski – WWD

NEW YORK — Aside from waiting an hour for the lights to go out at Tuesday night’s PrettyLittleThing x Naomi Campbell parade, the event delivered on several levels.

Celebrities, champagne, a surprise musical performance, a well-represented cast, a historic venue, orderly arrivals, polite publicists, and design input from two up-and-coming designers — the show covered all the bases. The model’s role as host, headliner, designer and attendee drew many people to Lower Manhattan for the Cipriani Broadway show. The front row filled with influencers included Emily RatajkowskiJulia Fox, Lori Harvey, Teyana Taylor, La La Anthony, Winnie Harlow, Leni Klum, Tommy Dorfman, Halima Aden, Jake Paul, Coco Jones, Jasmine Tookes and Stassie Karanikolaou, among others.

Even the set – the ticket hall of the Cunard Building at 25 Broadway – was a prime spot for lazing around. Several of the smartphone-wielding guests spent the pre-show wait in the Great Hall taking photos on the mirrored runway, which reflected the 65-foot Italian Renaissance Revival dome above. Klum, wearing a sheer white sleeveless dress, was among those who made the most of the surroundings for an impromptu photoshoot. Although the 19-year-old was not ready for interviews, she then chatted animatedly with security guards before leaving for the night.

Once the show began, models of all different ethnicities walked around the mirrored circular catwalk, passing each other more than once as beams of light of different colors shone through the vast interior. The series’ openness to identity and sizing inclusivity were evident during casting. But don’t call it diversity. In a recent interview with WWD, Campbell said, “I’m so done with the word. That’s my point: I feel like so many people just use that word to tick a box, to make sure they don’t get called out or something. I don’t use that word. For me, it’s not about using a word or checking a box, it’s about doing the action, the pure action. It’s about giving away some of your platform and sharing it with someone talented.

The PrettyLittleThing Shop Now collaboration with Campbell is packed with options for just about any occasion, including a faux leather trench coat, faux fur jacket, baggy white pantsuits, bodycon dresses, cutout dresses, mini sequined dresses, transparent dresses that reveal the thighs and tight jewelry. -toned dresses. Campbell had tapped two up-and-coming talents – New York-based Edvin Thompson and Lagos-born Victor Anate – to each design a dress. Campbell’s goal with the PrettyLittleThing collaboration is that other brands can use her as a role model to accelerate the careers of other young designers.

“I have always thought that it was necessary to share and transmit. It’s who I am as a person. But I don’t like my kindness to be confused with weakness. I do it as initiatives and I do it all over the world.… I love working with new young photographers, young designers and a new generation of models,” Campbell said earlier this month.

After Campbell closed the show by taking the final lap in a shimmering halter dress from the collection, the models lined up in formation on the wings of the runway and Campbell returned hand-in-hand with Anate and Thompson for one last Hi. Musician Davido then appeared in a starry shirt to perform a few songs as a surprise guest at the event as several attendees instinctively got up to sing and dance. Harvey, Taylor, Harlow and Anthony were among the first to join us. The arrival of two shirtless male dancers wearing unbuttoned varsity jackets and black slacks only amplified the crowd, as did two female dancers dressed in millennial pink pantsuits. with back tied by a bodice. As Davido’s music and the agility of the dancers echoed through the hall, bursts of prismatic light shot through the crowd in the rotunda. Before ending the evening, Campbell found and grabbed Bethann Hardison’s hand to pull her backstage.