London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Aug 25, 2025

Pop Stars Are Harnessing the Power of Fantasy Fashion

Pop Stars Are Harnessing the Power of Fantasy Fashion

When the going gets tough, the tough get inventive. For musicians, that means serving up fantastical style (remotely, of course.)

I worry that I’ve lost my muscle memory for live music. I’m at the point of withdrawal where I miss the sensory details with unnerving specificity: The strategic shifting of weight from one foot to the other. The craning left and right to avoid an obstructive gaggle of phones, or the tallest man in the room who’s somehow always in front of you. The purr of a strong bass reverberating between my ribs. The euphoria of relinquishing my personal space to the pit. Instead, my calendar is pocked with remote performances subject to the whims of internet connectivity, designed to be watched languidly without a thought to putting on outside pants. Yet, for all its physical inertia, the past year has been a time of considerable mental exercise: reimagining the collective music experience for our cloistered present, dreaming about what its future might look like, rewiring our brains for a new world.



Cardi B in Rey Ortiz at the 2021 Grammys.

As we live anxiously through a chapter in upcoming history books, pop stars and their teams have granted us flashes of psychic reprieve through the fantasy of performance. Music and fashion, two realms that thrive on elaborately constructed visions, have joined forces. There was the mirror-festooned cowboy hat and tangerine chaps that winked to Nudie suits in Megan Thee Stallion’s Apple Music Awards rodeo; Rina Sawayama’s nod to Marie Antoinette in Moschino panniers; and the utopian alternate reality of the “Positions” music video, in which Ariana Grande plays POTUS in Lanvin, Mugler, Gucci, and a series of pillbox hats. The optimism of splashy, gloriously inessential moments of pop culture excess, of unsolicited élan by way of plush creative budgets, has been a tonic. The show is different, but it has gone on, at least remotely.



Rina Sawayama performing in Moschino.

With concerts confined to screens, stylists have risen to the challenge of bridging the emotional gap, telegraphing the vitality of live music through amplified, exuberant, extravagant fashion that serves as a kind of visual Caps Lock. A Philip Treacy for Valentino couture hat imbues Dua Lipa’s Saturday Night Live performance with an ethereal lightness that only cascades of feathers can convey. Consider, too, the otherworldly burlesque of Cardi B’s “WAP” look: a custom Mugler thong bodysuit, set off by a corset with mammary cutouts and gold areola shields.



Dua Lipa, in Valentino Haute Couture, getting ready for SNL.

The dizzying wardrobe of Beyoncé’s Black Is King-its billowing jewel-toned skirts, sculptural shoulders, and curtains of diamanté-serves as the maximalist material expression of the visual album’s message: the insurmountable beauty and majesty of the African diaspora. “Creating a world where we get the opportunity to escape visually, especially in today’s circumstances, is always a treat,” says stylist Zerina Akers, who led the production’s costume design and assembled talents from all around the globe, from Senegal’s Tongoro studio to Greek designer Mary Katrantzou. “I often think of the many people dealing with very real and harsh realities,” Akers says, “and hope that if they saw a glimpse of my work, it would bring them joy.”



Beyoncé wears Mary Katrantzou in Black Is King.

When Lady Gaga and Nicola Formichetti began work on the visual identity for her Chromatica album, the idea was to construct a fictional world born of the therapeutic transformation she found through making music-feelings Formichetti echoes when reflecting on his own work. Like music, fashion is a form of escapism, he tells me, a way “to create a world of fantasy where anything is possible.” His childhood interest in visual art began, he says, as an inward search for identity and a safe haven that turned outwardly generative, a coping mechanism that became an act of self-determination. For Chromatica, he teleported to a metaphorical planet where “Ancient Aliens meets evolved beings” and aggressive elements are subverted, painted in candied hues. Shortly after filming wrapped on the video for “Rain on Me,” the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and many countries implemented lockdowns. Suddenly, the album’s themes of healing from grief and trauma felt not only relevant, but prescient. The incorporation of masks into all nine of Gaga’s outfits for the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards was effortless.



Lady gaga promotes Chromatica in pieces from Cecilio Castrillo Martinez, Gasoline Glamour, and Gary Fay.

The connection between these imagined and lived realities nods to the peculiar dynamism of fantasy, not just as a kind of mental Eject button, but as something more instructive. “That push and pull between dreaming and living feels more real now than ever,” says Schiaparelli artistic director Daniel Roseberry, who created the elegant yet whimsical gown Gaga wore to sing the national anthem for President Biden’s inauguration. “The sadness of this time we live in, but the power of the imagination and the world we can create for ourselves. Maybe it’s our greatest power.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
×