Lorde’s love affair with duct tape continues at the Balenciaga show

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Lorde is a fixture in the world of haute couture, attending the Chanel show on Tuesday and Demna’s swan song for Balenciaga the following day. But while she opted for a very formal look for Chanel, the singer rediscovered her bold side for Balenciaga.

The New Zealander arrived at Kering’s Paris headquarters wearing a sleeveless crystal-embellished dress, jeans, and a pair of black heels. Since the silver top was extremely sheer, Lorde chose to cover up using two pieces of black tape as pasties.

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Any fan of Lorde and her recent album Virgin has likely seen this look and immediately thought of one of the album’s singles, “Man of the Year.” In the song’s imagery, as well as in the music video, Lorde wears silver tape across her chest.

Lorde seems particularly taken with the duct tape effect lately. At this year’s Met Gala, the top of the singer’s Thom Browne outfit also resembled a duct-taped torso, a sort of Easter-esque twist for her “MOTY” music video.

Lorde in Thom Browne at the 2025 Met Gala.

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On Wednesday, Lorde attended a Balenciaga show for the first time. The singer told Interview that she’s a huge fan of Demna. Of course, this couture presentation was Lorde’s last chance to see the designer work with Balenciaga. Now that Demna has presented his final collection for the brand, he’ll be joining Gucci as creative director, while Pierpaolo Piccioli will take over at Balenciaga.

Asked which character she most identified with at Wednesday’s presentation, Lorde expressed interest in the one she called “the security guard,” a muscular model in a straight-legged jacket and pants, wearing sunglasses. So, if you see Lorde in this outfit at her next red carpet appearance, don’t be too surprised.

Look 22 from the Balenciaga Fall 2025 Couture show.

Courtesy of Balenciaga