Spend any time scrolling through @badgalriri’s endless stream of selfies, stick figures, and strong ass looks, and you’re bound to come across Melissa Forde, the Barbadian babe’s personal photographer, dance partner, and certified wingwoman. Last night, Melissa stepped out from behind the camera and tried on another hat, so to speak. The BFFs two-stepped to Yung Joc and sipped on Cognac at Opening Ceremony to celebrate Melissa’s first venture as the newly appointed Creative Director of WRKNG Title, rapper Wale’s hat company.
For her first collaboration, Forde (designing under her social media moniker M$$) set out to create the perfect bucket hat just in time for the spring season. “I’ve known Wale for quite some time, he did a song back with Robyn [Rihanna’s first name for all non-Navy readers], and he asked me to collaborate with WRKNG Title on some skullies. Since it was the summer time and I just wanted the perfect bucket hat to wear, we took it from there,” Forde told us at last night’s banger as we compared grills (hers are better.)
Forde’s first bucket capsule comes in three colorways: a Rastafarian-inspired print, an all-black neoprene mesh, and a super covetable pink pineapple situation. “Wale’s African and I’m Caribbean, so we developed the Rasta print as something to represent ourselves and our cultures,” Forde explained. “The neoprene mesh material is so amazing, you can wear it with anything, just grab it and go. And the pink pineapple is on the girlier side, but it’s everyone’s favorite.”
Opening Ceremony co-founder Humberto Leon also turned out to support Forde, and spoke to OC’s involvement with the capsule: “Melissa’s been working on this for a while. She told us early on that she was making the perfect bucket hat so we were super excited–who doesn’t want the perfect bucket hat?” Leon explained. “When you try it on you can tell: it’s a perfect fit, perfect brim size, perfect everything. The prints are so cool and the branding is so good on it. I think she really succeeded.”
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Photography Noam Galai via Getty Images