Cardi B shocks Paris Couture Week with live crow and bold Schiaparelli look

Quick highlights:

• Cardi B appeared at Schiaparelli’s Autumn 2025 couture show in Paris holding a live crow on her arm.
• Her dramatic black gown was designed by Daniel Roseberry, Schiaparelli’s creative director.
• The surreal look paid tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli’s legacy of theatrical, boundary-pushing fashion.
• The show marked a shift in Roseberry’s aesthetic, away from corsetry towards freer silhouettes.

Paris Couture Week opened on a dramatic note this year as Cardi B made a startling entrance at the Petit Palais wearing a black Schiaparelli gown, with a live crow perched on her arm. The rapper’s appearance outside the venue sent photographers scrambling as the bird flapped and squawked, setting the tone for a show rooted in tension, elegance, and surrealism.

The outfit, crafted by Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli’s Autumn 2025 collection, featured graphic fringe and a towering beaded neckline. But it was the crow, alive, glaring, and restless, that stole the spotlight, embodying the fashion house’s long-standing obsession with the unexpected.

The rapper wears a custom black Schiaparelli gown with graphic fringeInstagram Screengrab/lamodemagazine__

Schiaparelli’s black-and-white show channels wartime escape

Daniel Roseberry’s collection wasn’t just about visual shock; it was grounded in history. He revealed that the show’s core inspiration came from a pivotal moment in 1940 when founder Elsa Schiaparelli fled Nazi-occupied Paris for New York.
Presented entirely in black and white, the designs rejected colour in favour of texture and silhouette. There were sweeping gowns, sharply tailored jackets, and kinetic details like fluttering antique ribbons.

Roseberry softens past silhouettes in evolution of couture

For several seasons, Schiaparelli had leaned heavily on exaggerated corsetry and hyper-stylised silhouettes. But this time, Roseberry stepped away from constrictive forms, embracing movement and elasticity instead. The change didn’t abandon the house’s legacy; it evolved it.

He explored sculptural tailoring and architectural draping without sacrificing comfort. Dresses curved like metallic sculptures, while others rippled with unexpected softness. It was a visual and conceptual shift that resonated with Schiaparelli’s ethos: fashion as fantasy, but not without feeling.

A decade after relaunch, Schiaparelli still thrives on surprise

Since its revival ten years ago, Schiaparelli has become a fixture on red carpets and carved out commercial space in a notoriously unstable couture market. But it remains a house driven by risk. The crow, flapping and unpredictable, wasn’t just a gimmick; it was a signal that Schiaparelli still knows how to stir conversation.

The show’s setting, the Petit Palais, also featured a timely exhibit on Charles Worth, the British designer widely credited with creating modern haute couture. That parallel between the origins of the craft and its avant-garde future gave the moment added weight.

Cardi B and personal headlines still follow her

Outside of fashion, Cardi B’s personal life remains a topic of fan speculation. While she recently went Instagram-official with NFL star Stefon Diggs, followers have noticed she’s deleted photos of them. Diggs also removed a recent post featuring Cardi, though older ones remain. Both still follow each other on Instagram, leaving fans to wonder if the relationship is over or simply on pause. Cardi hasn’t publicly addressed the status of the romance.

Cardi B and Stefon Diggs cozy up on a yacht during Memorial Day weekend in Miami Instagram/iamcardib

With her upcoming album Am I the Drama? set for release on 19 September, some believe she’s focusing on her music. Until then, moments like her crow-clad appearance ensure she stays at the centre of pop culture’s most unpredictable intersections.