Camila Cabello's arrival at tonight's Billboard Music Awards made heads turn and also ignited a number of Twitter mentions. It was one of the singer's first few red carpet appearances since leaving Fifth Harmony, but, most notably, Cabello's bright coral red embellished ensemble strongly evoked another, erstwhile star: singer Selena Quintanilla, complete with bangs akin to the Latina star's coif.
The vivid slipdress-clad Cabello paired the spaghetti-strapped, delicately beaded Jonathan Simkhai pre-fall 2017 look with a matching robe draped over her arms. As soon as Cabello hit the step-and-repeat, folks took to Twitter to comment on the striking similarities and iconic, beloved Quintanilla, the Grammy-award winning '90s Latin pop singer, who was tragically slain at age 23. (If you were too young for the Texas-bred singer's heyday, you may recall Jennifer Lopez's silver screen depiction of the star.)
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i think camila cabello is trying to look like selena quintanilla
— nicole (@bixbspurpose) May 21, 2017
As for Cabello's crimson getup, it was actually a reference to the star's own roots, as her stylist, Law Roach, told Billboard. “The look is very boudoir and very sexy. I really wanted to speak to her Cuban heritage," Roach, who also works with Zendaya and Celine Dion, told the publication. "She’s Latina and showing that off is really important to her and me as well, so this look plays to her heritage and her personality."
Aside from her style choice on the magenta carpet, Cabello is a nominee at tonight's awards: she and Machine Gun Kelly are in the running in the Top Rap Collaboration category for their song “Bad Things." She's also performing at tonight's awards: "I haven't slept since I found out, seriously," Cabello told Billboard's livestream of her anticipation of her on-stage cameo.