EMMA JOHNSON
MY LIPA FAITH HAS PAID OFF
In the dark days of the second UK lockdown, or maybe it was the beginning of the third one – my apologies but late 2020 is a something of a memory blur – there was not a lot of joy to be found.
We were way past the halcyon banana bread-making days, had given up on learning new skills, had tired of trying restaurant-athome takeaway kits and even drinking alcohol on a weeknight had lost its appeal.
But one high point I do recall, is when Dua Lipa came to perform in our lounge.
Alright, she wasn’t literally singing to me on the sofa, but thanks to a massive telly and the wonders of online technology, it felt like she was.
For less than a tenner, the 25-year-old’s ‘Studio 2054’ virtual concert – the closest thing you could get to live music in 2020 – was a sparkly smorgasbord of pure, unapologetic pop fun that transported me from cold, wet, shut-in Britain to a fantasy future disco, dripping in sequins.
Prior to the pandemic, I had admired the young chanteuse, liked the odd song (I had Be The One on repeat for a while). After that show, I was a full-blown convert to the Lipa cause.
I even booked tickets to her (hopefully) forthcoming real-life tour. And I was not the only one impressed. The show smashed live stream records, with more than five million people tuning in. I realise that prior to 2020 most people had never even heard the term ‘live stream’, but that is beside the point.
The former model has dominated pop culture over the last 12 months.
So I was not at all surprised that Dua was the darling of this week’s Brit Awards, where she took home two top gongs – best British female and best album.
Regularly clothed by the likes of Donatella Versace, Gucci, and Saint Laurent, that the Londoner chose to have her big music moment wearing a homegrown designer only made me love her more.
I didn’t need the stylist’s notes, or to see a label to know immediately that Vivienne Westwood was responsible for her headline-grabbing outfits.
From the moment Dua stepped out of the car in that yellow corset and suspenders, hair piled high in a black beehive – an unmissable reference to the late Amy Winehouse, one of the most successful female performers the UK has ever produced – I could see the punk rock queen’s hand at work.
The pearls, the tartan, the stockings and suspenders, the laced-up platforms so reminiscent of the infamous purple pair that toppled Naomi Campbell on the runway back in 1993... it was like a rundown of the dame’s greatest hits.
But the red carpet look was only half of the story. For her live performance, the New Rules singer put the Union Jack front and centre, first on a handpainted jacket and then on that Westwood staple, the mini kilt.
Naturally, many took the flag reference as a nod not only to the nation but to the Spice Girls and Geri Halliwell’s tea towel dress, seen at the same awards in the Nineties.
It was a brilliant piece of symbolism for a Brits show that appeared to finally recognise women’s contribution to music.
As well as Dua’s two gongs, best band finally went to a girl group – Little Mix – while Taylor Swift became the first female recipient of the event’s Global Icon award.
Vogue called Dua’s ensembles ‘a riotous ode to Britishness’ – a wonderful way to put it.
Following a period that has seen British people subject to more rules and restrictions than most of us could ever have imagined, it was a joy to have a pop star prove that punk still rocks.