Spirit Animals Converge at Valentino Spring 2019 Men’s Show

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Valentino’s front row was a veritable jungle, crawling with animals in body — and in spirit. Pierpaolo Piccioli asked four famous friends of the house — A$AP Ferg, Nas, Keith Ape and Syd tha Kyd — to reveal their spirit animal, and he used the beasts as motifs on clothing and accessories in the patterned, logo-ed and color-packed men’s collection.

“My spirit is the black panther — a strong, fast, powerful animal,” said A$AP Ferg, who certainly stood out in the crowd on Wednesday afternoon. He was wearing a canary yellow suit and bedecked in diamonds from his front teeth down to his wrists and fingers.

“I change them every time I change my outfits,” said the musician of the sparkling crowns on his teeth. “They’re white gold with diamonds. I was going to go for yellow gold, to match my outfit, but then decided against it.”

He said he’s been working with Tiffany & Co. on jewelry, such as pendants and bracelets, and is also getting to work on a new album with a “huge producer, who the world loves,” although he wouldn’t give up the name.

“I’m a lion, I rule the jungle,” said fellow front-row guest Nas, who has been shooting the video for his single “Bonjour” in Paris. “It’s old-school — we filmed in a restaurant with candles and wine. And then we rode around the city. We’re doing more tonight and we’re trying to flip it as soon as we can. It will be out as soon as we can get a good edit.”

Syd chose the peacock “because it’s rare,” adding that she heads back to L.A. after Paris and has a new album coming out on July 20. She also plans to tour with it, but didn’t have any more details. Ape didn’t speak much, except to say he chose the ape as his spirit animal. To be fair, that choice didn’t need much explaining.

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