Fashion's latest darling emerges

New year, new girl.

If fashion muses bloom in the dead of winter, as ateliers begin to hum with sewing machines preparing for the Fall 2013 collections, the singer Rita Ora might be a particularly flamboyant breed of English rose. At 22, Ora, the prized protege of Jay-Z, has been rapidly winning over designers with her carefree style: a blend of hip-hop, designer bling and '90s Gwen Stefani.

Fashion has been so serious for so long, we're ready to have some fun, aren't we? said the Pucci designer Peter Dundas, who dressed Ora for several red carpet events last year and admires her hip-hop and ultrafeminine yet tomboy look. Dundas met the singer for the first time when he invited her to escort him to Bergdorf Goodman's 111th anniversary party last October. Ora wore a classic cream column that matched her Jean Harlow hair, Dundas said, declaring his date a ton of fun! .

Ora indeed seems game for mischief. We went out big time, she said, giggling. Her voice was slightly scratchy from the previous night, when she'd performed her last show of the year at New York's Highline Ballroom in a giant fur coat, which quickly came off to reveal a black sports bra and loose Roberto Cavalli printed silk pajamas. Afterward, she partied into the wee hours with Iggy Azalea, an opening act for Ora's sold-out show; Cara Delevingne, a model whom Ora first met at a music festival and called my baby; and Ora's older sister, Elena, 24, who is one of her managers and was also at lunch, along with the singer's publicist, her stylist, and the stylist's assistant.

I just had to let loose, Ora said. It was a big year for me.

Indeed. Peroxide blond, and usually spotted with her full lips painted matte red, Ora seems as if she would probably be able to find a spotlight in Antarctica. And this even though her first album, Ora, doesn't yet have a firm release date in the U.S., though it was released (at No. 1 on the pop chart) in Britain in August and a music video single, Shine Ya Light, has topped 5.6 million views on YouTube at ! last coun! t.

Ora is not a figure without controversy. In early December, there was an apparent dispute with the reality star Rob Kardashian, who was rumored to be her boyfriend, although the relationship was never officially acknowledged; he suggested she had cheated on him with nearly 20 dudes. The rant on Twitter, since deleted, spawned the unfortunate hashtag RitaWhora.

Still, while Twitter spats are par for the course when you're a budding pop star, capturing the imagination of the fashion industry is more difficult. Along with wearing the glamorous Pucci designs, Ora has proved an able mannequin for stacks of gold accessories, including a couple of Cartier Juste un Clou bangles (from her performance at a party for the bracelet in New York last April); newly acquired Birkin bags (a black and a red, both with gold hardware); mannish suiting (like the tuxedo jacket she wore in October to perform at the Absolut Tune party); wacky House of Holland outfits (one of which earned her a spot in Vogue's Best Dressed selection in November); and Vivienne Westwood corseted creations (such as a Cinderella-like gown she wore to the British Fashion Awards ! in late N! ovember).

For fashion party bookers, Ora seems to meet all necessary prerequisites. Janjay Sherman, the publicity and talent relations director of Extra Extra, the events arm of Paper magazine that put together the Absolut Tune party for the liquor giant Pernod Ricard, said she had recommended the singer because she started popping up on the gossip website JustJared.com. Plus, I like her sound and I like her look, and in order to become mainstream, you need to have the look, the sound and a strong social media following, Sherman said. She has the three things.

Or as Sarah Bessette, the public relations director of spirits at Pernod Ricard USA, said: She's backed by Jay-Z. Everything Jay-Z touches turns to gold.