From gracing the cover of Conde Nast’s much-anticipated new fashion rag Love to sitting front row at Jean Paul-Gaultier and Chanel, Beth Ditto has gone from punk rock maven to new fashion hotness. The plus-size Arkansas native has also been called on by fashion’s finest to provide the entertainment -- she performed at Fendi’s Paris Fashion Week after-party this past week at Karl Lagerfeld’s request. The singer has also inked a deal to design a line of 80s-inspired clothing for Brit brand Evans. So what is it about Ditto that has the fashion set so totally enamored?

Fashion is continually scanning popular culture for new muses (not to mention music-loving Lagerfeld in particular has always been fond of songstresses, from Lily Allen to Britney Spears). But while Ditto is no stranger to sartorial exploration or pushing the envelope with her personal style (she more often than not disrobes to her skivvies while performing on stage), her thoughts on the matter are simple: “I like wearing clothes, so it made sense,” Ditto told the Wall Street Journal. I also think the fashion world has been so starved for a break from the artificial and unnatural aesthetic ideals by which it is dominated that a dynamic, larger-than-life, unlikely fashion icon like Ditto is a much needed breath of fresh air.