red carpet

Janet Jackson and K-Pop Boy Band BTS Were Best Dressed at the Billboard Awards

Janet Jackson. Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage

It falls on the red carpet to keep awards shows like the Billboard Music Awards relevant — at least to us — and this year’s best-dressed guests were a combination of industry legends and young stars.

Janet Jackson, who was the first black woman to receive the Icon Award last night, arrived wearing a mint-green Carrie Bradshaw–esque tulle skirt by Rami Kadi, which she wore with a white T-shirt and fastened with a belt. Her hair was worn in a tight half-updo, and she accessorized with large hoop earrings and chunky chains on her neck and wrist.

Although this was a softer, girlier look than we’re used to from the “Nasty” Ms. Jackson, it made her appear as confident as she did during her red carpet heyday. Obviously, she was the star of the show — she performed live for the first time in almost a decade and also made a speech about #MeToo — but she accepted this honor with cool casualness. (She’s worn a T-shirt on the red carpet before, and we hope she does it again, preferably with Cut merch.)

Janet Jackson. Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage

On the other end of the spectrum, audiences lost their minds over BTS, the wildly-popular K-Pop boy band ruling the Billboard charts. Each of the group’s seven members — V, Jungkook, Jimin, Suga, Jin, RM, and J-Hope — showed up in a Gucci look that highlighted his individual personality. They gave us the full range of casual and formal, posing as a walking ad campaign for the Italian luxury house. Even Taylor Swift is now a fan.

BTS. Photo: Lisa O’Connor/AFP/Getty Images

Instead of a T-Swift x BTS collaboration, though, we might prefer to see one with Ms. Jackson. What do you think?

Janet Jackson and a K-Pop Group Ruled the Billboard Awards