ICYMI ... Cardi had a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights stare when Emma Chamberlain -- representing Vogue -- interviewed her on the carpet Monday ... and came up empty-handed on the designer's exact identity, and referring to them only by their ethnicity.

The dress was put together by Chinese designer, Sensen Lii of Windowsen -- but Cardi wasn't able to come up with the name in the moment ... referring to them as "Asian and everything."

Of course ... many have slammed her in the aftermath -- suggesting she was being racist by saying that -- but Cardi says she only did that because the actual name escaped her ... and she wanted to be as accurate as she could with the info she remembered off hand.

Cardi also addressed Vogue's former managing director Gilbert Cheah -- who gave the "Bodak Yellow" rapper a healthy tongue-lashing for what he deemed a distasteful response.

Cardi barked back though ... maintaining it was better to say "Asian" instead of the wrong nationality or nothing at all ... and discredited Cheah's digs altogether, saying his opinion was irrelevant since he no longer holds a position at Vogue.

In terms of why Cardi even forgot in the first place ... she says her mind was on a million things at once in the moment -- and it was simply an innocent mistake, nothing intentional.

Funny enough, Sensen Lii, the specific Windowsen designer behind Cardi's dress, hasn't shown any signs of anger ... in fact, the gaffe has generated incredible buzz for her fashion brand -- so it might've been a blessing in disguise after all.