‘Great grandma went to the Met Gala’: woman identifies A$AP Rocky’s quilt
A quilt worn by the rapper A$AP Rocky to the Met Gala in New York this month turned out to have a heartwarming story.
Attending the exclusive gala with the pop star Rihanna, A$AP Rocky wore a quilt-style cape designed by Eli Russell Linnetz.
The designer explained that on a visit to the young designer’s studio, the rapper gravitated to a giant quilt in the ERL spring collection.
“He was, like, ‘I want that,’” Linnetz told the New York Times.
Then, a week after the Met gala, Instagram user “books_n_babies” posted about the quilt.
“So, my great grandmother’s quilt was donated to an antique/thrift store a while back,” wrote the user, identifying herself as Sarah. “When I saw the Met Gala photo, I realized instantly that it had to be the same quilt.
“??I read the Vogue article about the designer finding the quilt in southern California and with his office not that far from us in Venice, California, I demanded that my mom go look for the photos of it on our old bed.”
Placed next to each other, pictures of the quilt Rocky wore and the quilt the user’s great grandmother created looked identical.
“Looks like great grandma Mary went to the Met Gala with A$AP Rocky and ERL,” Sarah wrote.
While most people responded positively to the origin story, some questioned why Linnetz didn’t credit the original quilter, given that his quilt-cape was based closely on someone else’s design.
However, in a second post, Sarah said she was not accusing Linnetz of stealing her great grandmother’s design, or seeking any restitution herself. She had spoken to the designer and his quilt maker, Zak Foster, she said, adding that they were “both lovely people”.
She wrote: “I posted this because I found it amazing that something my great grandmother made out of love for my mother … ended up being used for an amazing statement art piece by amazingly talented people who took it to the next level.”
Sarah also told commenters her family still has “many quilts and afghans and handmade loveys” made by great grandmother Mary.
