NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 04: Ari Lennox performs onstage in the VVIP Superlounge Experience during Day 1 of the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola at Caesars Superdome on July 04, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Josh Brasted/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

*Drops beignet*

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 04: Ari Lennox performs onstage in the VVIP Superlounge Experience during Day 1 of the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola at Caesars Superdome on July 04, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Josh Brasted/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

Ari Lennox took the Superlounge stage at the Superdome for the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture, and sis looked fantastic. She showcased her taut arms and toned legs while singing her hits in front of enthusiastic fans. The body was body-ing, and as usual, we’re obsessed.

Lennox has been glowing since she started prioritizing her health and wellness in 2021, exercising consistently with a trainer while also eating a cleaner diet. She’s also spoken about the benefits of being sober from alcohol, which she used to deal with a fear of flying. She said finding herself inebriated in an airport in 2022 was the signal that she’d gone too far.

“I probably started the day with, like, two glasses of wine. Then I ended up in Detroit because that was my connecting flight. And on the plane, I probably had two more glasses of wine,” she recalled. “Got to Detroit. I went to the bar and had a big old bowl, it felt like a bowl of wine, it was Chardonnay.”

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 04: Singer Ari Lennox attends Night 1 during the 2025 Essence Festival Of Culture at Caesars Superdome on July 04, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Paras Griffin/WireImage)

She ended up missing her flight, and when she sat down to get her bearings, she blacked out, only to be awoken by EMS.

“I was sick. It was embarrassing,” she admitted. “After that, that was one of the moments where I was like, okay, enough is enough.” She celebrated one year of sobriety in 2023.

Since prioritizing her self-care, Lennox has been bright-eyed and in her best shape. She continues to inspire just by being her fabulous self, and we love to see her shine.

“I need to find my own peace. I need to be soft to myself as well,” she told the QuickSilva Morning Show earlier this year. “Of course, embrace it from other people but I need to do the same thing for myself. I need to be pampering myself.”

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Sagging came to the fashion scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s as hip hop became an outlet for artists and listeners alike. The impressionable youth naturally wanted to embody their idols by adorning themselves in baggy clothing with their pants hanging below their waists. In 2021, Balenciaga released a $1,200 sweatpant with a boxer detail at the waist to mimic sagging. This incited outrage online after a TikTok video of the pants was shown in the store.

“I think my initial observations [on the sagging trend] was with celebrity culture in particular. White celebrities and even some models, like the Hailey Bieber types; that whole group that the media pushes over and over again,” said Julian Randall, writer and Black consumer studies Ph.D. candidate, “I had been forced to think about it more critically when Balenciaga sold those sagging sweatpants. All of the discourse around that was the first time that I had been confronted with it in ways that I hadn’t before,” he explained.

The brand is now known for its often controversial designs that are made to provoke a reaction or draw attention. Non-Black celebrities such as pop star Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, and Troye Sivan are often seen sagging on other fronts. They have adopted styles similar to traditionally African-American-associated fashion, with large oversized T-shirts, jorts, or denim that hang much lower than their waists. Eilish’s fashion approach may be seen as part of “Gen Z” fashion, as this younger generation has a variety of aesthetics they go by. However, what is fascinating about her style is that her music reflects nothing close to hip hop, but the complete opposite. This raises questions about how Black or African-American style is perceived. Often, white consumers dabble in cultural appropriation, as they view Blackness as the epitome of cool, yet discard it for a “cleaner” look when it no longer serves them.

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The sagging trend has taken a new turn, with the illusion of wearing multiple pairs of pants or attached underwear now considered fashionable. Despite the Balenciaga controversy, brands such as Miu Miu, Hed Mayner and All-In have also adopted this trend. However, this has raised some concerns. To explore the growing interest in sagging, we delved into its history and interviewed experts on this previously significant phenomenon, which has become a microtrend.

According to the historian and author of Liberated Threads, Tanisha C. Ford, the trend of sagging seems to have started elusively. Sagging was often alluded to homosexuality in prison, yet this is a gray area in Ford’s opinion. On NPR, she stated, “I don’t think we can definitively say that sagging began in prisons.” Another specification of the trend comes from the author and fashion curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Darnell-Jamal Lisby, who suggests that it may have started in prison for other reasons. Baggy clothing uniforms and clothing were given to prisoners without belts to thwart suicide attempts. Prisoners were given baggy uniforms without belts to prevent suicide attempts, which some people believe is reminiscent of the practices of enslavers, who did the same to prevent enslaved people from escaping. This has led government officials to take action.

What is most upsetting about sagging being looked at as a trend on a broader scale outside of Blackness is that historically it only affected Black participants negatively. In 2007, Ocala, Florida council member Mary Sue Rich was so bothered by Black youth sagging that she got a law passed to fine young men wearing their pants too low of $500 or up to six months of jail time, according to NPR. This law was lifted in 2020 after 13 years in a county that is predominantly Black or African American. This comes as no surprise as the Black Lives Matter movement was on the rise in 2020 with the aim to make real change in the quality of life and safety of Black people in America. Other states had made similar bans from Wildwood, New Jersey, and Pikeville, Tennessee. “I was never in support of it, even as a resident,” Vice Mayor Chris Davis sponsored the repeal in Florida and told the Miami Herald. “I felt it disproportionately affected a certain segment of our population, which is young, African-American men.” Even President Barack Obama made a statement to MTV’s Sway in 2008, saying, “Brothers, pull up your pants.” However, he said that making laws regarding this trend was a “waste of time.”

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The respectability politics of sagging and the perspective of dressing like a thug or dangerously dressing was plaguing the Black community for decades. However, penalizing Black young men solely on their clothing was much more dangerous. Black consumer analyst and writer Julian Randall weighed in on the high fashion space co-opting sagging as problematic: “Historically, [brands have studied Black consumers] to a degree. For example, hip hop artists’ stylists couldn’t pull from European luxury fashion brands. They wouldn’t work with them because of these stereotypes about what rap and hip hop are. Eventually, once white male youth started adopting hip hop styles, then the big brands started paying attention. They leverage aspects of Black culture to maintain coolness or cultural relevance. They know that hip hop is the most globally influential phenomenon.”

Lisby, the fashion curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art, explained that the pull toward appropriating sagging has to do with the fact that Black history has yet to be reconciled like other oppressed cultures. That is why the perceived disrespect and cosplaying of Blackness is worn and taken off so quickly by white counterparts.

“It just comes down to how the world views blackness, and can we, as a global society, come to reconcile the history of Black people across the world? And because we have not done that, and we still continue to not do that. It all comes down to this idea of policing Blackness and really kind of continuously denigrating Blackness, but then kind of moving throughout history without reconciling with that past that we then get the byproduct of, and a part of that is disrespecting or disregarding Black culture.”

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Kelly Rowland never ceases to amaze us. Over at the Cannes Film Festival, the singer is showing attendees and fans what it takes to breathe some life into the red carpet. One look in particular has us transfixed. Yesterday when attending the Marcello Mio debut Rowland appeared in an exquisite fiery red gown by Anamika Khanna styled by Wilford Lenov.

The lustrous gown worn by Rowland was comprised of an assortment of curve-hugging fabrics all in one tone: fire engine red. It seemingly floated on her figure in images she took ahead of arriving to the red carpet. Paired with Kelly’s frock were a pair of Jimmy Choo pointed-toe silver pumps, a tiny clutch by the same brand, and jewels by Messika. The necklace she wore, bracelet and drop earrings featured striking diamonds. Her ensemble which was accompanied by Rowland’s cherry white bob and a natural look by celebrity makeup artist Sir John birthed an incredibly stylish fashion moment.

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There’s even more proof of Rowland’s status as a style star. Also in Cannes for the premiere of Le Comte De Monte-Cristo, she donned a brilliant white off-shoulder gown by designer Jean-Louis Sabaji. The waist of the gown included a metallic silver embellishment. Though the train wasn’t lengthy this moment was as equally fashionable as the look she wore yesterday. On her neck, she wore a minimalistic silver necklace which was elegantly paired with mod-ish circle earrings. Lenov also styled this look.

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For the amFAR Gala at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Rowland pulled off an eccentric Gaurav Gupta ensemble in a bold green hue. This outfit was comprised of a cropped top and an eloquent floor-length skirt—both pieces included beaded detailing. Her stunning jewelry with this outfit included an emerald and diamond necklace, matching heart earrings, and a lovely diamond, emerald, and 18K gold ring. Each of these pieces was designed by Shruti Sushma.

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Since Rowland is never one to shy away from expressing herself through style, her Cannes Film Festival looks come as no surprise to us. In recent months she’s made appearances in expressive pieces by Charles Harbison, Louis Vuitton, and more. Kollin Carter is one of the stylists she regularly works with–with him memorable instances ensue. Lenov has also injected color and a hint of timelessness into Rowland’s wardrobe.

Red however is one hue that we love to see her in. A few months ago, ahead of the release of her latest film Mea Culpa, for a press event she wore a bright red leather set with a matching fur coat. In another instance, she was an office siren in a sleek white outfit made up of an oversized blazer and matching trousers. This level of versatility is why we cherish each moment Rowland brings us.