Lorde is back – these are her best music video fashion moments
From Royals to Solar Power, Lorde is no stranger to serving major looks, says Prudence Wade.
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Your support makes all the difference.After four years of no new music, Lorde is back with new single, Solar Power.
It’s an ode to summer, and a taster of the 24-year-old’s long-awaited third album – described as “a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalising the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors”, in a newsletter to fans.
Lorde said Solar Power is about “that infectious, flirtatious summer energy that takes hold of us all” – and she certainly has the outfit to match.
For the video, Lorde dances on a beach in a bright yellow two-piece by New York brand Collina Strada. The Yellow Satin Monte Carlo Top and the Bead Yod Skirt Yellow Satin are both made from deadstock satin – materials that would’ve otherwise gone to waste – and fit the label’s ethos to become “a fully sustainable and radically transparent brand in the near future”.
It’s a bright, summery look – a big departure from the more Gothic styling of Lorde’s first album, Pure Heroine, but then she’s used to making a statement in her music videos…
Royals
This was Lorde’s breakout hit when she was just 16. She kept her fashion sparse and simple – a plain white t-shirt and a silver necklace – meaning the real star of the show could shine through: her geometric cat eye make-up.
Tennis Court
Then came Tennis Court, the 2013 single where Lorde showcased a modern sporty Goth look. In the video, her hair is braided across her head, she’s wearing her signature dark lipstick, and a black fishnet top from New Zealand brand Zambesi with a black bikini top underneath.
Yellow Flicker Beat
Made for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 movie, the music video is suitably cinematic – a mini movie in its own right. It opens with Lorde wearing a masculine suit – similar to Yves Saint Laurent’s Le Smoking – with her hair quiffed up into a pompadour.
She soon changes into a red suit with a black bandeau underneath to dance inside an empty hangar, then dons a feathered black evening gown, worn to a bizarre looking cocktail party. Finally, Lorde sits at an abandoned bus station wearing an ethereal white suit with a long train.
Green Light
Lorde launched her second album, Melodrama, in 2017 with the single Green Light, giving us one of her most memorable fashion moments. She dances around Los Angeles wearing a bright pink minidress with draping and long sleeves by Giorgio Sant’Angelo, and a pair of classic white Adidas sneakers. It marked a new era for Lorde: her hair was shorter, she ditched the dark lipstick, and revealed a more mature look.
Perfect Places
Perfect Places cemented Lorde’s status as a high fashion darling. Shot in Jamaica, the then-20-year-old changed from outfit to fabulous outfit at a head-spinning rate.
Our favourites include a dramatically large Jacquemus straw hat paired with a simple white shirt dress (and a machete, for extra impact), a sweeping red coat gown worn on the beach (where else?), and a tulle, crystal bedazzled nude dress from Valentino.
As much as we love the yellow ensemble in Solar Power, we can’t help but wish she’d changed outfits as many times as she did in Perfect Places…