On Thursday, fashion's favorite collaborator Virgil Abloh presented Off-White's spring 2018 collection in Paris with fanfare worthy of a princess — the People’s Princess to be more precise.
In July, the designer shared a sneak peek at his inspiration for the collection on Instagram: A board filled with images of Princess Diana, accompanied by the caption, “one woman, 40 Off-White looks in the works come September.” Titled “Natural Woman,” the offering celebrated and recreated some of Princess Diana's most iconic looks, from a hot pink and white polka dotted long-sleeve dress she wore to the Sistine Chapel in 1998, to the off-the-shoulder, sweetheart-neckline little black dress (also known as her "revenge dress") she wore to Vanity Fair's 1994 summer party.
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But it was fashion’s reigning royalty Naomi Campbell, who closed the show wearing Off-White-branded bike shorts (which are, for some reason, all over the Paris runways) with a blazer, that cemented the tribute to Lady Diana Spencer. The iconic supermodel paid homage to Lady Di’s love of suiting basics and low-key athletic wear in one epic look. Think of the time she wore a Harvard sweatshirt with bike shorts heading to the gym. Now think of the (many) times she rocked an oversized blazer. Now put them together. Yeah, Abloh combined them, turning two definable aspects of Diana's wardrobe into one cohesive aesthetic.
Campbell completed the look with a pair of heels from the designer’s Cinderella-inspired Jimmy Choo collaboration. And considering Diana actually wore the brand, it's clear Abloh thought of every little detail when it came to this runway homage.