Hayley Williams readily admits that she doesn’t really consider herself a fashion person. This makes her appearance at the Collina Strada show yesterday, smack-dab in the middle of New York Fashion Week, one of the most surprising moments of the season so far. The Paramore frontwoman announced her debut solo album, Petals for Armor, at the end of last month, and she performed the project’s first single, “Simmer,” at the close of Collina Strada’s playful runway-cum-concert, held at the recently opened Manhattan venue the Dance. “I really did not expect to feel a warm welcome from the fashion community,” Williams said via email following the show. “It’s just because I don’t consider myself to be a fashion-forward person. Typically, I’m going for comfort in my own everyday life, and for work I just do what I feel matches my mood and the music. That’s what I think was so perfect about the connection between my art and what Hillary [Taymour] does with Collina Strada: Her designs as well as her shows have a sort of “anti” spirit about them—even though it’s all completely gorgeous, aspirational, and forward-thinking.”

Each season, Taymour carefully curates the artists whom she works with, based on both their shared values and their genuine interest in the brand. Last spring rising New York singer-songwriter Zsela performed alongside a verdant farmers market, while this season Taymour tapped Williams as well as Colombian-Canadian singer Tei Shi to take part in the show. “Hayley and I just met, but I was so impressed with her demeanor,” Taymour says. “She definitely has a similar energy to mine and was very easygoing…having people like that who are supportive of the brand makes the show much stronger because you can tell that they want to be there.”