“So I have two flags draped in my body,” Saweetie told E News on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Tuesday evening. For her Met Gala moment, the Fil-Am rapper wore a sparkling gown with two very important details: the Filipino flag and a Black American heritage flag. “Because that’s what makes me an American girl,” she said proudly.
The multi-platinum rapper looked stunning in the very revealing custom gown which honored both sides of her heritage. Saweetie, or Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper in real life, is the daughter of Johnny Harper, an African-American, and Trinidad Valentin, a Chinese Filipina. The two raised their very talented daughter in the Bay Area.
Saweetie’s gown was made by the British designer Christian Cowan who says on his Instagram post that the flags both appear on the gown’s train. The gown also features 10 million hand-placed crystals, says Cowan, “which are draped to adorn her body with diamond chain” and the designer’s emblem as embellishments.
Saweetie revealed to E News that it took 24 hours for her and Cowan to come up with the dress. She seems to be a fan of the designer (or is it the other way around?). She also sat front row on Cowan’s recent ready to wear show. The designer is known to create fearless, very sexy dresses—and so it’s little surprise that Saweetie’s slinky, draped number at the Met is one of the most talked-about and written-about among the evening’s showstoppers.
The Met Gala, considered the world over as fashion’s biggest night, chose Americana for its theme this year (hence the smattering of cowboy nods on many celebrity outfits), in honor of the Costume Institute’s new exhibition opening on the 18th called “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.”
Saweetie acknowledging her roots in a platform such as the Met Gala is not only the 29-year old rapper standing up for representation but also being a dutiful daughter. “I remember my mom telling me that it’s important for me to share my heritage, to share my culture,” she told Asian Journal in an interview. “So anytime that it makes sense, I do let people know that I am half-Filipina.”