For the past week, Barcelona, Spain has been the Instagram backdrop for everyone from Mimi Moocher to Devon Lee Carlson to Dua Lipa and Charli XCX, all of whom are in the city for Primavera Sound festival, which, for the first time since the pandemic, has been taking place in the city at its iconic waterside location. Headliners at the two-weekend event include Tame Impala, Megan Thee Stallion, Lorde, Tyler, the Creator and, for many, the most exciting name of the moment: Lipa herself.
Over the past few months, the 26-year-old pop star has been non-stop, traveling the world performing her long-awaited Future Nostalgia world tour — and songs off the pandemic-released album of the same name — live for the first time. But to headline Europe’s best festival on Thursday night, Lipa changed things up both in her set list and her style, stepping out of the Mugler bodysuit she’s been wearing on stage for the past 60+ shows and into something a little more festival-appropriate.
Kicking off with her hit “Physical” to thousands who’d gathered at Primavera’s main stage to await her, Lipa went full Y2K in a custom-made Blumarine dress which featured a purple sequined corset top overlaid with a purple cowlneck mini dress, also sequined, and a matching tie around her neck. Lipa continued the purple theme with boots in the same color and a pair of purple square earrings.
Of course, it’s not a festival without glitter, which Lipa added in the inner corners of her eyes, alongside a wash of purple eyeshadow, finishing off the look with a huge cat-eye: The girlies of Euphoria High would be proud.
Lipa’s look was a welcome palette cleanser after the outfits coming out of Coachella in April, which were either so boho they became a meme or so low-key that it prompted many to question whether the future of festival fashion was looking like you didn’t try.
Alongside the likes of Hailey Bieber in jeans and a tank top, Carlson was one person used as an example for the latter at Coachella, wearing a wife beater and baggy trousers and barely posting any content on the ‘gram throughout the festival. But thankfully, this weekend, she too is leaning into fun, festival fashion for Primavera Sound.
For day one, the Wildflower founder donned a zebra-print Realization Par dress which she wore with knee-high lace-up boots and a flower necklace, later changing into a pale green mini dress and sneakers to enjoy the city with orange-lensed sunglasses, a mini Shrimps bag also in orange and blue dog-printed socks.
The topline? Bring on the glitter, but leave the boho. See also: bring on festivals about the music and the vibe, instead of the content creation, and you’ll see better, more fun looks because of it.
