Vogue World: Milano turned into as much a concert as a runway show on Tuesday night, with Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez and Alicia Keys among the musicians who stepped away from their usual stages to take part in Vogue's fifth annual traveling fashion spectacle. The show, staged inside Milan's 19th-century Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II on September 22, brought together designers, athletes, actors and pop stars for a production Vogue framed as a survey of fashion's ability to "preserve heritage, drive innovation, and shape the future," unfolding across five themed acts during Milan Fashion Week.
Cardi B wearing Versace Spring 2018 at Vogue World Milan 🩷🔥 pic.twitter.com/thSuUa8K96
— Complex Style (@ComplexStyle) September 22, 2026
Cardi B's involvement came as a surprise addition to the night's "Made in Italy" segment. She walked in a spring 2018 Versace dress printed with pop-art renditions of past Vogue covers, styled with gold, diamond-encrusted Tiffany & Co. bone cuffs and Versace shoes. The look leaned into the show's archival theme, pairing a Versace piece that itself referenced Vogue's own publishing history with modern high-jewelry styling, and it marked one of the rapper's more directly fashion-editorial moments of the year.
jennifer lopez walks during vogue world pic.twitter.com/FoF8VDhkXX
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Jennifer Lopez followed in the same act, shifting the segment from a straightforward runway walk into a full performance. She appeared in a black, embellished gown from Dolce & Gabbana's 2025 Alta Moda Roma collection, paired with jewelry from the house and slingback stilettos, and performed choreography on the runway rather than simply walking it. The moment was captured on video and shared to Instagram, and it placed Lopez among a handful of stars, including tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in Gucci and actress Simone Ashley, who anchored the "Made in Italy" act's blend of fashion and performance.
Alicia Keys closed the show entirely, leading a performance of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" during the final act, titled "The Age of Intelligence." According to comments from Luca Galasso, the event's fashion director for cast and special performers, Keys's look was developed specifically for the moment, with the design team consulting her directly before landing on a piece intended to embody "performance, movement, art, and painting." The segment also featured models Helena Christensen, Vittoria Ceretti and Iris Law in coordinated white looks, giving Keys's closing number a unified, almost tableau-like staging.
Gabbriette, Helena Christensen, Vittoria Ceretti, Gigi Hadid, Anok Yai, & more closing for Vogue World Milan 2026
— shrek is love, mugler is life❤️🔥 (@itsbleekerxox) September 22, 2026
Alicia Keys performing pic.twitter.com/g3AZZXF77f
The three joined a lineup that also included Gigi Hadid, who opened the show in Valentino Haute Couture before changing into a second look; Machine Gun Kelly, who walked in an orange Byblos jumpsuit; and J Balvin, alongside actors and models including Dakota Johnson, Hunter Schafer and Irina Shayk in the audience or on the runway.
For Vogue World, folding musicians into the runway lineup rather than confining them to front-row seats has become part of the format's identity, and this year's Milan edition leaned further into that mix by giving Cardi B, Lopez and Keys full performance moments rather than brief walk-ons. The event doubled as a showcase for Milan's fashion houses, with Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Gucci all appearing prominently across the acts, reinforcing the "Made in Italy" framing at the center of the night.
