‘Strong, Sexy, Cool’: A Detailed Breakdown of Dua Lipa’s Glastonbury Looks, By Her Stylist Jahleel Weaver

“I’m not even sure where I am right now,” Jahleel Weaver says. “... Bath?” The 37-year-old stylist—who moved from suburban Maryland to New York aged 18 before going on to travel the world as Rihanna’s right-hand man—has, in a remarkable twist of events, never set foot in the rural British county of Somerset. “I’m so down to check out what the real British people are wearing,” he adds. “I’ll call it research.” (He will be disappointed.) There are also more urgent tasks at hand—chief among them styling Dua Lipa for her career-defining slot on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage on Friday night—than exploring the lesser-known fashion capital that is the West Country. “I’m super, super excited. But it’s been a real whirlwind.”

It all started three months ago, when Lipa and her longtime stylist, Lorenzo Posocco, parted ways. “I was also entering a transitional period,” Weaver says. “I basically went from being Rihanna’s full-time employee for 13 years to starting my own creative studio, which honestly stemmed from seeing Rih become a mother. I felt like I needed to build something of my own, and she’s given me the full support and motivation to do that.” He still provides creative direction for Rihanna—and her various Fenty businesses—but the freedom to become his own boss has been a prodigious shake-up. “It was a natural and fast introduction to Dua,” he continues. “And I always thought she had great style. To have become a real name in fashion with such an identifiable look is an incredible achievement. But her life is evolving and there’s an ease and effortlessness to how she presents. It’s less ‘in your face.’”

It was an immediate baptism of fire: an SNL appearance, an album release, the Met Gala. A glimpse at Lipa’s Radical Optimism tourdrobe—she’s so far completed five out 24 dates that will take her from Berlin to Seoul—reveals Weaver’s subtle but significant influence. (The neon bodysuits of Future Nostalgia have been replaced with second-hand Sonic Youth T-shirts, hot pants, and studded belts.) “The red hair is so distinct from her past eras, for example, and that’s always been considered such a liberating thing for a female artist to do. It immediately made me think of some of the famous redheads from the past—Poison Ivy from The Cramps and Nina Hagen—who Dua and I have started pulling from.” Weaver understands the significance of Lipa’s hot-headed metamorphosis more than most: his 13-year-long career as Rihanna’s stylist began when she switched her own hair color from the Rated R blonde to a culture-shifting shade of scarlet with Loud. “It symbolizes a coming of age.”

Weaver says he’s had about a month to create five looks for a stage no less daunting than the Super Bowl. “This will be such an important moment in Dua’s life and she is putting on an intense, four-act spectacle, so everything has been custom-made,” he adds. “There has been no compromise.” It will be the stylist’s first time attending Glastonbury and his costumes will lean into the… erm, undone glamour that he will doubtless witness among tonight’s 150,000-strong British crowd. “I love the Brits,” he says. “I literally grew up watching Ab Fab. That’s how I learnt who Christian Lacroix was.” There is an appropriate champagne deshabillé to just about everything Lipa will perform in: imitation shirts draped at the waist, vintage band tees, raw-edged minidresses, shin-trailing belts. “This isn’t Coachella! But Dua Lipa is still one of the biggest popstars in the world and so we had to make sure the looks felt just as ‘stage appropriate’. It was easy to pull off because she’s so open, so fun, and will try anything.”

Scroll down to discover the secrets behind the five special looks Jahleel Weaver masterminded for Dua Lipa’s headline performance.

Act One

“The first act [look] was made by Jesse Jo Stark of Chrome Hearts. I really wanted it to be a portrayal of who she is and where she’s at to set the overall attitude of the show: young, strong, cool, sexy. It’s amazing how Chrome Hearts embodied everything we were trying to achieve. I’m super happy with what we created: a raw-edged leather minidress with all sorts of hardware details—safety pins, a huge belt, the Rolling Stones tongue—with leather boots. It’s super cool because the first act has the most intense choreo of all.”

Act Two

“You’ve always got to ask, ‘How are the songs broken up? What’s the lighting? What’s the overarching mood? How can the clothes reflect that?’ This part of the show is a bit more intimate—it’s pretty much just Dua and a band—and so I wanted to do something lingerie-inspired with a casual ease and coolness to it. She’s wearing a Versace slip dress made from grey silk, with black lace embroidery that feels as though she’s just wrapped a flannel shirt around her waist. It’s this idea of being simultaneously dressed and undressed.”

Act Three

“Act three is another choreo-intense segment, and so I wanted to do something that looked a little bit more realistic. How would Dua look if she was going to a rave? And so she’s wearing red and black chainmail shorts with crystallized belts made by Michael Schmidt, who is a master and a legend. The T-shirt she’s wearing pays tribute to Shakespears Sister—one of the few female headliners that Glastonbury has ever had, which is something we’ve thought a lot about during this process—and is from Saint Luis. He’s been a friend of mine for years and has the most amazing collection of vintage tees. The reference was Debbie Harry.”

Act Four

“So this is technically the ‘finale’ look. The challenge here was to encapsulate everything we had done throughout the previous acts into one show-stopping outfit. It’s an Acne Studios design with all the core elements we had established (T-shirts, leathers, crystals) that was, again, made to feel like Dua had just tied a T-shirt around the waist and tucked a tank top into her bra. I will always incorporate the designer’s references so I know the look is within their wheelhouse. This one’s hard to explain but trust me… it’s so cool.”

Encore

“Loewe designed Dua’s encore look. It’s a one-piece bodysuit that sort of looks like a halter neck, shorts with a huge metal-studded buckle belt, and custom Gianvito Rossi boots. I see it as a throwback to how the show started, it has that same attitude. It’s funny because we started on four looks and then Dua just said, ‘I think I have time to change into a fifth?’ and I was like ‘Yes! Yes you do.’ I’m so down for the dedication. And when she put it on she was like: ‘This is how I want to end the show. I want this to be the last look that people see.’ That’s the only goal as a stylist. It’s never about yourself. It’s all about helping your client to feel their best.”