Zayn Malik's first Met Gala appearance earlier this year was certainly a conversation starter.
Making his red carpet debut with girlfriend Gigi Hadid, the former boybander divided opinion by taking the theme of 'Fashion in an Age of Technology' very literally indeed, opting to wear a metallic arm-piece that earned comparisons to Terminator and Robo-Cop from quick-witted social media users.
However, it seems that these comments didn't remotely bother the 'Pillowtalk' singer, who revealed in a new interview with Dazed that the ahem, eye-catching design was his own handiwork.
'I wasn't really sure what to expect,' Malik explained. 'I know it's a big deal in the fashion industry. Anna Wintour obviously runs the whole thing so it was an honour to even get to go. I was asked to design my own costume by Donatella Versace!' No biggie.
'It was cool. I had seen a few people hitting me online, saying negative things about it. But I enjoyed it because they were saying I looked like a dude from Mortal Kombat, and it was actually based on a character (from the video game series), called Jax. He had metal arms, and the theme was technology, so I just took it from him... It’s a bit easy to just dress up in a suit. I like to do things that are a bit outside of that.'
We're guessing Zayn is the sort of guy who takes fancy dress themes very seriously, and we truly appreciate that. Anyone else holding out for a Zayn x Versace collaboration?
The singer also revealed that while he doesn't usually get feedback from his musical peers, he has earned the Taylor Swift seal of approval.
'I spoke a bit to Taylor,' he said. 'At Gigi's house we briefly spoke and she told me she really enjoyed the album. It was nice to get some feedback. She said she though I was cool and I kind of blushed a bit and didn't know how to take it.' Praise indeed.