When Kim Kardashian made her hotly anticipated appearance at the Met Gala alongside boyfriend Kanye West on Monday night clad in a custom floral dress by Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci, opinions were definitely divided. Many praised her confidence for hitting the high-profile red carpet while seven months pregnant (and not welcome to the ball in years prior), while others compared her look to a couch and the dress Robin Williams wore in “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
But chances are, Kardashian doesn’t care what you think—because she now has the ultimate fashion endorsement: Riccardo Tisci’s. In an interview with WWD, Tisci not only defended Kim and her maternity style but practically gushed about the reality star, boldly stating:
She is a really good friend, and I am very happy she came to the Met for the first time. I love Kim. Doing maternity was fantastic. I wanted to have a Kim Kardashian moment, because Kim always supports me. She is the future wife of a really good friend of mine. I wanted to have a moment of family…Kim, Kanye and the baby. It will be a family that I will be close to. Kim said, ‘Ricky, I love what you’re doing so much, I am in your hands.’ I said, we should give her our punk moment with a romantic beautiful flower-printed dress. I have dressed many pregnant women in the past. People can say what they want. To me, pregnancy is the most beautiful thing in the world, and when you celebrate something, you give people flowers. I think she looked amazing. She was the most beautiful pregnant woman I dressed in my career.
While Kardashian has publicly struggled to make her mark on the notoriously elitist fashion crowd, it seems like things might actually be starting to work in her favor. With the help of West and his powerful designer friends, she’s started to turn her image around—but we’re betting she still can’t make the full shift to high-fashion acceptance due to obligations she has to her hoards of fans.
In fact, just two days before the Met Gala, she was at a Texas mall promoting her Sears line, which is a far cry from the red carpet at the most prestigious fashion event of the year (though we should note she was wearing Givenchy sandals with her bodycon Sears dress).
Kardashian made her millions thanks in part to dressing Middle America in trendy, cheap clothes inspired by her reality show—so we have to wonder if her fans will accept her potential perch on the fashion A-list.
Hey, the transition worked for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who were selling Walmart jeans before they designed $55,000 backpacks, so maybe she’ll be able to follow in their footsteps.
What do you think of Tisci’s defense of Kardashian?
MORE: Watch Kanye West Serenade Kim at the Met Gala, Proclaim She’s Awesome