The album cover for Badu’s 1997 neo soul masterpiece Baduizm is up first. “I love this look,” Badu says of the image, shot by photographer Marc Baptiste. In it, the singer obscures her face from viewers, and her large camouflage headwrap operates as a major focal point. “The soldier in me,” Badu says of the distinctive print. A year later, Badu would appear on the long running children’s program Sesame Street whilst donning a patchwork version. The garment quickly became a personal trademark. “Patchwork is really important to me in fashion,” Badu explains of her attraction. “Because it’s not so much about patches themselves, it’s more about the threads that weave them together.” The next year, in 1999, Badu would appear inside the pages of Vogue for the first time, dressed in a dramatic black gown by the Harlem born designer Epperson. Then, Badu had her eye trained squarely on Black and African designers. “I didn’t wear ‘name brand’ designers,” she says. “I only wore Black designers from New York, or Dallas, or Atlanta. I wanted to make sure that I used my platform to be an advocate for young designers.”
As time progressed, Badu would expand her sartorial scope to include more mainstream luxury designers and brands. Case in point The 2014 Met Gala, which she attended with Riccardo Tisci, then creative director of Givenchy. For the occasion, Badu wore one of her signature toddler sized bowler hats, an embellished overcoat, with a black jumpsuit underneath. It would not be Badu’s only knockout appearance at the star studded celebration of fashion. In 2022 she went with Marni creative director Francesco Risso (the two recently worked together on a collaboration). She wore a Marni colorful patchwork outfit of sorts—with a long mane of ankle length beaded braids. There are particular moments in Badu’s retrospective that represent growth and celebration—like when she hit the runway for the first time at Vogue World last year, dressed in ERL, Bode, CDLM, and accessories by Badu World (her namesake brand). “My first runway ever, period,” Badu said. “I always thought I was too short to do runway, so I didn’t even think about it.” Another pinch me moment was appearing on the cover of Vogue’s March 2023 issue. The photo was one of the last images taken that day, during what Badu calls “the golden hour.” She beams looking at it. ““I felt like I was seen, I felt like I was recognized for how passionate and serious my love for fashion and art is. That’s me, That’s Erykah from South Dallas on the cover of Vogue.”
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