KTAF NEWS

“It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it,” Madonna told the crowd at one point (shortly before remarking that in New York City, “if you can make it here, then you must be queer”).

Of course, Madonna’s job involves outfitting herself, and she gave W an exclusive look into her fittings for the show. The mood board for the looks mixed Pride with her own legacy while incorporating some of her favorite established labels (Gucci and, of course, Versace) with some up-and-coming designers.

The focal point of her first outfit for the night, worn during “Hung Up,” was a custom sleeveless bomber jacket adorned with chains from up-an-coming label SEKS (the label is also a favorite of Julia Fox, who was in the audience where guests were sipping Madonna-themed Belvedere cocktails).

“It was important for Madonna and myself to include emerging New York designers into her show costumes,” stylist Eyob Yohannes told W. “SEKS provided a modern, cool, athletic aesthetic with a unique point of view that M and I very much loved.”

The look was finished with a vintage bustier from Illisas, shorts by Zhivago, and Givenchy boots.The inspiration for the look worn during the Saucy Santana Clarks Shoes duet was Madonna’s own “Material Girl” video, though it was Santana who channeled the Marilyn Monroe-inspired pink dress.

“M thought it would be great for Saucy to reference her pink dress look while she played the masculine counterpart in the video,” said Yohannes.

Madonna herself, instead, channeled one of the tuxedoed dancers with a Pride twist and an assist from Donatella Versace.“When M and I were discussing costumes it was a no brainer to reach out to Versace to make a custom look for this event,” said Yohannes. “M has had a longstanding relationship with Donatella, whom she had just seen at a wedding. The Versace atelier created a custom suit dress from the runway show with custom hand painted Versace pins in pride colors.”

The final look of the night borrowed from Gucci’s recent collaboration with Adidas. She wore a matching jacket and short over a bustier from Anoeses, a Ukrainian label specializing in high-fashion fetishwear. The pointed cups subtlety references a certain famous cone bra.

“It has been extremely exciting to delve into M’s archives and find ways to reference past looks with a modern and fresh perspective,” said Yohannes. “Juxtaposing new fashion with nods to M’s historic moments has been quite the journey.”