When the musician Saweetie was in high school, she impulsively dyed her bangs blonde, almost damaging her hair beyond repair. The then-teenager’s go-to hairstylist was booked, but she was eager to switch up her look. “I went to a random hair salon and they put the blonde in for too long and I felt my scalp burning,” she tells W over the phone. “My hair literally turned into goo. It was so traumatic.”
Hair is a key aspect of Saweetie’s personal style, which has come a long way from her Wet Seal and Charlotte Russe-clad adolescence. Nowadays, the Bay Area rapper born Diamonté Harper is continuing to experiment with new looks. Last month, she attended Paris Fashion Week for the first time, sitting front row at shows like Courrèges, Alexander McQueen, and Mugler. Brainstorming with her stylist Jordan Boothe, Saweetie bleached her eyebrows while in the French capital—though her boldest look while abroad was surely an icy blue Mötley Crüe-esque wig with electric blue eyeshadow. “Paris is such a creative, fashion-forward city [so] I really wanted to take it there,” she says. “I was just experimenting and if it worked, it worked.”
Like her new single “Richtivities” suggests, Saweetie has been on a hot streak of “doing rich sh*t” in the area of high fashion. Below, she discusses her experimental looks at Paris Fashion Week and how she’s learned to maximize her time while getting ready for a big event.
When did you find out you were invited to PFW and how far in advance did you start preparing looks?
It had been in the air for a couple of weeks [prior], but my team and I finally confirmed to go two days before. When I’m not given a lot of time, however, sometimes that pressure creates my best looks.
Saweetie’s look for the Courrèges fall 2024 show.
Walk me through an average day of getting ready for a show.
The first day, I started at 6 AM. I like to give myself at least three to four hours for glam, because we’re experimenting with different shapes on my face, different hairstyles. I set my alarm for an hour before I have to get out of bed, because I like to wake up, stir, then go back to sleep for an extra hour. I then get in the shower to really wake myself up, have one or two cups of coffee, and then I [get] into glam. I love me an Afrobeat playlist and [seeing the] makeup options covering the tables, the wigs that are ready to be placed on my head. After that, I might eat some breakfast, hop in the car, go to the show, take some pictures, and then do it all over again.
Tell me about your look for the Mugler show. How long did the blue hair and makeup take?
My eyebrows were super bleached that day—I literally had no eyebrows. But the focal point was the eyeshadow and the hair. My hair was supposed to be bone-straight, but we were running around so much, we didn’t have time to get it to the state that I wanted it to be in. So instead, the hairstylist teased it in 10 minutes because I didn’t wanna be late for the show.
Saweetie at the Mugler fall 2024 show.
Was there anything about French fashion that inspired you in particular?
Paris is where a lot of the iconic fashion houses come from, so I did my research ahead of time. I was on Pinterest seeing how the original designers and founders would style their models and their shows. Each look [I wore] was an homage to each fashion designer whose show I attended.
Tell me about your custom Tony Ward dress you wore to the Vanity Fair Oscars after party. Did you have to be extra careful moving around because of all the diamonds?
Absolutely, because it was snagging on everything. I’m practicing this new thing with my glam where I get ready extremely early so that I have enough time to take content and I’m not rushing the look. That has been a real stress reliever: after I’m dressed, I have time to eat, fix anything, and with that particular look I had time to do an actual photoshoot.
I saw your recent post on X where you described your teenage style as a way of life versus an aesthetic.
The reason I said that is because when I dress a certain way, sometimes people say that I’m cosplaying an aesthetic that was actually the way I grew up dressing—and it’s weird when people try to make it seem like they know more about you than you do. Because I didn’t have that many resources to buy whatever I wanted, I had to get creative with how [I styled my] clothing. Hair played a major part in my style because it added that extra touch. My hair was like my jewelry; I was constantly dyeing it different colors using Kool-Aid, and experimenting with fashion at a really young age because that’s how I expressed myself. If you grew up in the Bay Area, whether you’re a man or a woman, you know.
What’s currently on your shopping wishlist?
I’m really into hibiscus flowers. I wore a hibiscus flower necklace [to] Rolling Loud and I love how it went with my pastel outfit. I think in this next era, people will see me in more pastels.
What’s your style pet peeve?
When someone tries something new and they get dragged for it. It’s just wild, something like fashion, which is a way for people to have fun, and suddenly they’re being dragged for their bravery. Like, let me see y’all dress up like this and see how y’all look, you know? And I’m not just talking about me. Everyone’s gonna have an opinion. But for me, creativity and fashion is like therapy. It’s fun, so I can only imagine how someone else feels when they’re taking a chance and then they’re being dragged online for it. I really hate that.
What was the last thing you purchased?
A hibiscus necklace from Etsy.
What’s your biggest fashion regret?
Probably dyeing my bangs blonde. My advice to all the hair girls is: if your trusted hairstylist isn’t available, please wait for them!
What else do you have in store for this year?
My biggest goal for myself is to be consistent with creativity. Every day, I want to get better at what I’m interested in. As of recently, I’ve been taking my painting and drawing a lot more serious. Hopefully that can turn into something bigger than just canvases and paper.
