Nicki Minaj is Vogue’s December cover star, and to celebrate the occasion, we’re taking a look back at some of her best fashion moments. From her Pinkprint days to her many years of Met Gala looks, the rapper has always stayed true to herself, carving out a place in the fashion community.
Minaj burst onto the scene in the early 2010s after she signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment label, earning a reputation for her incredible bars and unapologetically loud outfits. Who can forget her sculptural, Harajuku-inspired look by Amato Couture for the 2011 VMAs, or the voluminous pink Christian Siriano dress she wore as the musical guest on SNL the same year? It’s her early no-holds-barred approach to personal style that earned Minaj the attention of some of the most renowned designers in the industry. She has become a regular in the front row, building relationships with designers Jeremy Scott, Ricardo Tisci, and Marc Jacobs, among others.
She continues to push the envelope with her style—who else would rock a Lil’ Kim-esque nipple pasty, be an early adopter of the pantless trend, and also cover themselves in pompoms? Minaj has also taken a memorable approach to formalwear, be it the pastel pink Dolce & Gabbana wedding dress she wore to the 2023 VMAs, the leopard print Givenchy dress with a matching wig that she wore to the Grammys in 2011, or the seemingly endless train on her Prabal Gurung dress at the 2019 Met Gala.
So, Barbs assemble, because, below, we’ve gathered some of our favorite of Nicki Minaj’s looks from over the years.
