Keke Palmer and clothing designer Sergio Hudson shared details about their fashion partnership as the latest “Essence” cover stars.
In the spread, the two detailed what it’s been like to dress Palmer’s post-baby body, starting with the actress’s viral 2023 Met Gala look.
In a post made to their Instagram account, Essence magazine reveals the cover of “The Fashion Issue” featuring Keke Palmer and Sergio Hudson.
@essence/Instagram
This year’s Met Gala was held only two months after Palmer gave birth to her now 6-month-old son Leodis “Leo” Andrellton Jackson, but with Hudson’s help, Palmer said she felt comfortable stepping out at the famed fashion event.
“I feel like I was the most beautiful woman there,” Palmer said. “I knew that my hair was on point. I knew that my makeup was on point. I knew that my look was on point.”
Palmer described how helpful Hudson was as they walked the carpet and said she credits him for her return to the public eye after giving birth.
“He was like, ‘Get out there and talk to these people. You need to work the room. These people need to see how good you look.’ He was breathing so much life into me,” she said.
Keke Palmer, left, and Sergio Hudson attend The 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 1, 2023, in New York.
Noam Galai/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images
She added, “It makes me feel a little bit emotional now, talking about it, because I honestly feel like he brought me back to the world, honey. He really did.”
Hudson, who dressed the star in a curve-hugging gown full of Swarovski crystals and finished the look with a powder blue opera coat, said he felt Palmer’s happiness on the carpet, saying she seemed “so happy in her skin.”
Though her body “was changing by the day” and they underwent multiple fittings, Hudson said he enjoyed making Palmer “feel confident in that moment.”
“Right from the start, I knew I was in good hands,” Palmer added.
Palmer also opened up to Essence about parenthood, specifically her breastfeeding journey.
“I think my breastfeeding journey was also very empowering, because it was so difficult,” she said. “And I wanted to give up at so many different points, but I just kept pushing myself and kept trying to figure it out. So the relationship I had with my son during that process empowered me to get back up and do things for myself again.”
“I’m gonna get out there and experience everything again, and I’m still gonna be there for my boy,” she added. “That kind of resolve built so much confidence and so much strength in me. I just got this overwhelming sense that I can do anything.”