Working With Lady Gaga Again Has Meat-Dress Mastermind Nicola Formichetti In A State Of “Childlike Excitement”

When the Little Monsters – Lady Gaga’s loyal legion of super-engaged fans – found out that the avant-garde pop mega star was collaborating with Nicola Formichetti on the visuals for Chromatica, there was practically a Monsters’ Ball. The legendary stylist, who began working for Gaga in 2009, is the brain behind the performer’s “meat dress”, her latex Hussein Chalayan egg look and those of the PVC-clad aides supporting her embryonic Grammys entrance; and countless image rebirths since. Formichetti left the Haus of Gaga, an Andy Warhol’s Factory-style collective of creatives, to pursue creative director positions at Mugler and Diesel, but now he’s back and, a decade on, the duo shares the same childlike excitement, as they did as young, boundary-breaking punks.

It turns out Formichetti had been missing the excitement of pop culture. A trip down memory lane, when helping his friend curate a series of “best of” looks for her Las Vegas residency, ignited the same spark he experienced upon first meeting Gaga on a V magazine photoshoot. “It was an instant love affair,” he tells British Vogue of their chance encounter on set in LA. “Gaga brought the clothes to life, she played around with things when I was used to models standing still.”

The 2019 Vegas shows segued into creative discussions around Chromatica, Gaga’s sixth studio album, and the retro-futuristic sphere surrounding it. “Chromatica is the world that lives in her mind,” says Formichetti. “Gaga deletes things she doesn’t like and creates new things.” Originally slated for a pre-pandemic release, the apocalyptic undertones of the album’s themes seem oddly apt considering the current climate. This is not lost on Formichetti: “It’s music for today, with a juxtaposition of yin and yang, good and bad, colour and darkness.” But, he maintains, Gaga’s work has alway explored these subjects: “Chromatica has all the DNA of Gaga: it’s very futuristic, but there are also notes of ancient civilisations; it’s got an alien vibe; weird reptilian creatures; punk rock; bright colour,” he muses.

For each single, including the viral Blackpink and Ariana Grande collaborations, Gaga and Formichetti trod a specific path in the Chromatica universe, before venturing into new ground. It has, he says, been cathartic for both creatives, who are so in sync they finish one another’s sentences. “There’s dark subject material in the music, but we paint it very bright. It’s been a healing process.”

Releasing and promoting music in a cultural landscape blighted by a global health crisis obviously comes with serious implications. For the VMAs – the first major live music performance since Covid-19 lockdown – Gaga wore a protective face mask for every performance and acceptance speech (she won five statuettes on the night). “Music is important to bring excitement to a world that’s in a crazy state, but this was all about creating a beautiful statement about the respectfulness of wearing masks,” says Formichetti of their mission to make PPE cool through awe-inspiring stage wear.

There’s also the responsibility of the Lady Gaga legacy to uphold, and her cult followers, who treat every hair colour transformation as laden with hidden meaning. “Chromatica is all the eras mixed up and dyed in a rainbow palette,” says the image director, unwilling to engage in specifics that might spark a new wave of theories of what’s to come. “It’s moving forward while looking back and appreciating the good and bad – our form of fashion therapy.” Hairstylist Frederic Aspiras’s way with colour – “I could watch him layer powders, dyes, toners and then fuck everything up for hours,” admits Formichetti – does mean that an iconic Gaga ensemble often has its roots in a particularly good hair day. “Beauty is a great starting point to go with it or against,” he concedes.

Being back in the Haus has been energising. “I’m not interested in putting a celebrity in a dress,” asserts Formichetti. “We create by turning everything upside down, we’re always evolving.” The designer, who has moved to LA to be closer to Gaga’s home (affectionately called her “womb”), says his assistants are as terrified as always of the duo’s zany processes. “We’re still the bad kids trying to cut everything up,” he laughs of literally being banned from using scissors in the studio. “Of course we take things seriously, but we never forget to view things like it’s the first time.”

When pushed to pick a favourite look or a career-defining moment, Formichetti only sees the big picture. “It’s such an honour to be a part of the positivity Gaga brings to all generations,” he shares. “She’s an entertainer, but she stands for great things and brings people together.” He will concede that the meat dress, which is now in Gaga’s Las Vegas museum, was the perfect blend of controversy and excitement that makes a cultural phenomenon. “It was a strange day,” he remembers of the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. The dress was stored in a freezer and put outside to thaw prior to the show, then dried out “like beef jerky” afterwards. “The meat dress was actually based on a meat bikini we made for a Vogue Japan shoot prior. We never plan one singular idea,” notes Formichetti of their constant research. The next decade-defining Gaga look could already be out in the ether, or in the Chromatica-verse.

More from British Vogue: