Cardi B Covers T Magazine’s Greats Issue in Loewe and Bulgari

Cardi B in a black Nili Lotan dress and Christian Louboutin heels.

Cardi B is on the cover of T Magazine’s Greats Issue, and she went all black for it. The rapper was photographed in New York City on September 9, 2026, by Ilya Lipkin and styled by Ian Bradley. Her cover look pairs a tasseled Loewe leather coat with a black Nili Lotan dress, plus a snake-style Bulgari necklace and ring. The story, “The Many Lives of Cardi B” by Emily Lordi, runs in print on October 25 under the headline “This Is Not a Gimmick.”

Cardi B in a black Nili Lotan dress and Christian Louboutin heels.

The shoot played with night-time New York. In one frame she wears a pleated, ankle-length Chanel dress with a deep V and a black feather flower at the neckline, along with a Chanel High Jewelry bracelet, a Tiffany & Co. ring, David Webb earrings and Giuseppe Zanotti shoes. In another, it’s a black Balenciaga dress with a long train, worn with David Webb earrings and a bracelet. Then there’s the Nili Lotan plunging halter dress, with Graff necklaces and a bracelet and Christian Louboutin heels, posed on a rusty fire escape. Her hair was long and platinum, in crimped waves, parted in the middle with bobby pins, styled by Tokyo Stylez. Makeup was by Erika La’ Pearl, and nails were by Coca Michelle. If you want more of her recent hair moments, see Cardi B’s fiery red hair at the BET Awards.

Cardi B in a pleated Chanel dress with a black feather flower.

The interview itself is just as interesting. Lordi met Cardi at her New Jersey home in September, right after she’d flown back from Italy. Cardi told her she’s enjoying her best summer in years, after a decade of grinding. She plans to lock herself in a basement studio in November, and she says she wants to make a Spanish-language album.

Cardi B wears a black Balenciaga dress with a long train.

She’s also a perfectionist about the music. According to the piece, she can spend up to five days on a single track and gets drafts mastered so she can hear them on a phone, in headphones and in a car. Her latest album, Am I the Drama?, is only her second studio album, arriving seven years after Invasion of Privacy. This year she also played a late-night set at Pacha in Brooklyn and an NPR Tiny Desk concert, and launched her hair line, Good Grow, in April.

On image, she told Lordi her “ratchet” persona is real and not a gimmick, and the two came up with a phrase for it: “classy ratchetness.” For another recent Cardi moment, see her vintage Versace look at Vogue World Milano.