Diana Ross needed no introduction to designer and stylist Ugo Mozie, who created the elaborate coat and train she sported to the Met Gala.
Based between Los Angeles and Lagos, Mozie is great friends with the superstar’s son Evan, whom he also suited up for the first Monday in May. Mozie, who has also worked with Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and Travis Scott among others, was only 18 when he debuted his first fashion line in 2009. His creations for Ross and her son, as well as for the Met Gala’s head chef Kwame Onwuachi were all custom Eleven Sixteen designs.
Knowing that Diana Ross wanted something to celebrate her family for the Met Gala, Mozie used crystals and embellishment to incorporate the names of her children and grandchildren into the coat and train’s trimmings, which were shaped to look like the vines on a tree. The process required four weeks of constant work that involved seamstresses, embroiderers and tailors.
“I like to say that it was a global project because we used some embellishments that were made in Nigeria and the Swarovski crystals were sent from Austria, the coat and train were made in L.A., and the embroidery was made in New York City,” Mozie said. “When the final creation was presented, it was such a moment of relief for me and my artistry. For someone like her, who has seen everything on the highest possible level, to appreciate and like something that I created was a very beautiful and affirming moment for me.”
Ross wore a decades-old gown, according to the designer. “About 80 percent of her gowns are her own designs that she has collaborated with other designers on that she has done,” Mozie said.
The designer was surprised to see the Grammy winner had added a hat to her red-carpet look. It was a piece he had designed last year for her 80th birthday party. “It just went with the theme [in honor of ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’] so well that she wore it for this event as well,” Mozie said.
Mozie is also a style director for Hugo Boss, helping to style celebrities for the company’s fashion shows — and its Met Gala celebrity guests — and he has styled ad campaigns. Asked about Ross’ reputation for being particular, Mozie said, “She is someone who has been exposed to so much in this world, that she chooses not to settle for anything less than the best that life has to offer. I can only be inspired by that.”
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