On the Grammys red carpet on Sunday, celebrities spelt out messages in black and white. While the Golden Globes earlier this month saw black dominate as a protest in line with the Times Up campaign, music’s biggest award ceremony switched to monochrome as default setting.



Some stuck to the black dress code, such as Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Sarah Silverman.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rita Ora at the Grammys. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

Others went for the impact of white. SZA, Cardi B and Childish Gambino were in this camp, while Lana Del Rey took the angelic angle further. She wore a gown embroidered with silver stars, accessorised with a halo.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest SZA at the Grammys. Photograph: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Some celebrities carried white roses with them, with men including Kendrick Lamar and Trevor Noah pinning them to their lapels, and Cyrus licking hers with that famous tongue.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kendrick Lamar with white rose, Grammy and Rihanna. Photograph: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Naras

This was a campaign in support of the Times Up initiative. The rose idea was pushed by Meg Harkins, senior vice president of marketing at Roc Nation, Karen Rait, head of rhythm promotions at Interscope Geffen A&M Records, and other high-profile women in the music industry. “We all agreed it was really necessary,” Harkins said. “We’ve all felt the political and cultural change in the last couple of months.” In an email sent to attendees of the Grammys, the collective explained their choice of the flower. “We choose the white rose because historically it stands for hope, peace, sympathy and resistance,” it read.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kesha and friends in white on stage at the Grammys. Photograph: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Naras

The colour white, of course, represents peace, but it is also has history in the women’s movement. White was one of the trio of colours adopted by the suffragette movement, along with green and purple; white stood for purity. Hillary Clinton’s white pantsuit, which she wore to accept the nomination as Democratic candidate for the 2016 election, was seen making a feminist statement.



Beyoncé, never one to miss an opportunity to win at visual statements, skipped the red carpet and the white rose, but her six-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy, was dressed in head-to-toe white. Kesha – an artist who has firsthand experience of sexual misconduct – performed all in white, with a supporting cast including Cyndi Lauper and Camilla Cabelo also in the colour.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Janelle Monae backstage at the Grammys. Photograph: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Naras

Other microtrends were noted too – there was an upswing of trousers for women, with Janelle Monae, Anna Kendrick and Kesha wearing them. This in itself is a protest against the pageant-y end of the red carpet. Burgundy seemed to be a sleeper colour, worn by both multiple winner Bruno Mars and Hillary Clinton during an onscreen cameo. Rihanna saw the opportunity to wear three outfits – a brown PVC wrap dress, pink slipdress and black and gold metallic co-ords.

White roses might be more discreet, and politics might have been less in the foreground for fashion at the Grammys, but the 2018 red carpet remains a place where protest can be signposted. These visual statements arguably stand with the signs on the Women’s March last weekend. As images that will be broadcast around the world, the optics are undeniable. This award season, a political issue remains the best accessory.