For the longest time, music artist Billie Eilish has been popularly described as anti-pop. It’s mostly due to her angsty synth-pop music, overall emo persona that the media have widely talked about since her accidental debut, and her unconventional fashion choices (read: hoodies and baggy clothes) that do not exactly fit the ‘female pop star aesthetic’. In fact, in the cover story of US Vogue in March last year, Billie shared her thoughts on being called anti-pop:
“I’m a rule-breaker. Or I’m anti-pop, or whatever. I’m flattered that people think that, but it’s like, where, though? What rule did I break? The rule about making classic pop music and dressing like a girly girl? I never said I’m not going to do that.”
Well fellas, that day has finally come. She is doing that. And she’s not just doing the girly girl thing. She’s all woman on the cover of British Vogue June 2021 issue with her sultry sophistication. The coolest thing about it is, Billie herself came up with the concept and shared it with the UK Vogue team and her constant fashion collaborator: Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele. It shows that the creative narrative behind it all is happening on her own terms and her own sense of time.
“Billie represents something completely new. She is a continuously evolving artist with a new vision and interpretation of herself in terms of femininity. Billie is exactly where she means to be without prejudice. That’s why working with her is so stimulating – she forces me to think differently,” Gucci’s Alessandro Michele shared with British Vogue.
Michele also mentioned that Eilish herself sent some visual references for the shoot, “referencing Hollywood, a world that fascinates me a lot. She is extremely meticulous in the way she reinvents herself.”
The singer and songwriter also worked closely with Vogue UK’s style director Dena Giannini. On the cover image shot by Craig McDeen, she rocked a custom corset and skirt by Gucci, bra and knickers by Agent Provocateur, latex gloves by Atsuko Kudo, with jewelry by Jacquie Aiche and Anita Ko Jewellery.
Eilish also wore a custom Alexander McQueen corset dress in one of the layouts, paired with sandals with latex stockings and gloves by Atsuko Kudo:
She’s also killin’ it in a custom catsuit and corset by Mugler, accessorized with Anita Ko jewellery:
She’s also pictured wearing a custom trench and corseted body by Burberry, with Mugler stocking boots and tulle gloves by Thomasine:
The reason her reinvention in the UK Vogue fashion editorial is so powerful is because Billie has never minced words about her body insecurities and self-image, which she shared has pushed her to hide her body beneath baggy clothes. Eilish predicted the response to her latest Vogue shoot: “‘If you’re about body positivity, why would you wear a corset? Why wouldn’t you show your actual body?’ My thing is that I can do whatever I want. It’s all about what makes you feel good. If you want to get surgery, go get surgery. If you want to wear a dress that somebody thinks that you look too big wearing, f**k it – if you feel like you look good, you look good. Showing your body and showing your skin – or not – should not take any respect away from you.”
Aside from being a refreshing kind of stylish feminist, Billie Eilish will always be loved for the way she writes her own songs with topics that touch on depression, love, loss, and self-image. Her vocal stylings, haunting lyrics and textured melodies make her storytelling so moving.
If there’s one thing we can take away from Eilish’s new Vogue cover shoot, it is that when a woman is finally ready to share her own version of femininity to the world on her own terms, she is gonna kill it.