The night was devoted to Care Delevingne and her new collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld’s iconic fashion house, but Candice Swanepoel dominated the red carpet as she joined an array of stars in New York City on Monday evening.
The South African model was in attendance as Delevingne’s CARA LOVES KARL capsule collection of sustainable clothes received an official launch party during the city’s bi-annual fashion week.
And with its principal designer curiously absent following a series of erratic public displays, Swanepoel, 33, was given the opportunity to shine as she rubbed shoulders with fashion luminaries Lara Stone and Stella Maxwell.
Making her way onto a somber black carpet – an acknowledgement of Her Majesty the Queen’s recent pᴀssing – the model commanded attention in a microscopic minidress and raunchy thigh-high boots.
Opting to go braless on the night, Swanepoel added to her latest look with a loose fitting dress shirt, suggestively unʙuттoned and neatly tucked into her skirt.
Meanwhile fellow models Stone and Maxwell appeared to honour the Queen’s death by wearing funereal black, a recurring theme among guests on the night.
Other guests in the night included Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev, John Travolta’s daughter Ella Bleu, singer Becky G and American model Amelia Grey Hamlin.
However Cara was missing from the black carpet, with her absence from what was essentially her own event unexplained – despite the elusive model sharing posts about the new capsule collection across social media on Monday evening.
Each item to feature in the new collection is said to be “crafted from more sustainable and premium materials” and features gender neutral aesthetics and inclusive sizes ranging from XXS to XXL.
Commenting on her new collaboration with the iconic German fashion house, she admitted Lagerfeld – who pᴀssed away aged 85 in 2019 – had been a key figure in her modelling career.
She said: ‘I am so proud of the collection I have created along with the incredibly talented team at Karl Lagerfeld.
‘Karl was, and still is, an extremely important influence in my life and I’m honoured to have created this collection under his name.
‘I believe that Karl would have been very proud of the sustainable, genderless direction we went with, and I like to imagine he even would have worn some of the pieces himself. I can t wait to see how people wear all the different pieces we created.’
Delevingne will also star in a 3D campaign featuring herself and Lagerfeld interacting as avatars in a digital playground, while 15 dedicated CARA LOVES KARL shops will open in different cities across the world, including in Milan, Los Angeles and Paris.
The collection will be available from September 8, 2022, at KARL LAGERFELD stores, on KARL.COM, and via select premium wholesale partners worldwide.
Delevinge’s fans have been voicing their worries for the star after she was seen smoking a pipe of some kind while sitting alone in a car last week and then appearing erratic and out of sorts at Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles on Monday.
Now, her friends and family are searching for ways to help the troubled former ‘it girl.’
‘We are all incredibly concerned. The situation has been building for a few weeks now, and Cara’s family is involved,’ a close friend told The Sun on Wednesday.
‘There is talk of staging some kind of intervention and making sure Cara gets the help she may well need,’ the person added. ‘She has been burning the candle at both ends of late, and it’s clearly taking its toll.’
Delevingne made her latest worrying appearance on Monday in Los Angeles, appearing disheveled and jittery prior to boarding Jay-Z’s private jet.
According to DailyMail.com sources, the cover girl appeared unable to control her body movements at certain points as she was seen on the phone, bending over, dropping her phone, and walking around looking very jittery and as if she was unable to stop moving.
Recently, Delevingne spent some time at the Burning Man festival at Black Rock desert in Nevada. Sources told DailyMail.com at that time the she didn’t eat or shower while at the event.