Sam Smith’s BRIT Awards designer admits he’d ‘never sell’ balloon outfit, explains meaning
Sam Smith was the sartorial talk of the BRIT Awards, rocking up in a shiny black outfit that looked like it had been blown up around the arms and legs.
Images of Smith walking down the red carpet in the shiny one-piece quickly went viral.
The signer hadn’t spoken about the meaning behind the look but its designer has now given a bit of context. The balloon-like piece was designed by London brand Harri, owned by London College of Fashion graduate Harikrishnan Keezhathil Surendran Pillai.
Pillai spoke to the Women’s Wear Daily website following the ceremony. He said: “Sam was having a lot of hate comments recently after ‘Unholy’ about their body image. This is my take on celebrating his natural form and the beauty of being one’s self.
“I wanted to create an image which people have never seen Sam in. I would never sell those rubber trousers but yeah, people love it.”
Sam Smith recently made headlines for saying they feel they “have the opposite of body dysmorphia” after coming to love their body. The singer has faced criticism for the way they dress (Smith uses they/them pronouns) including for most recent music video Unholy, which a small pool of critics have called gratuitously sexualised.
However, the singer’s fans came to the support of the singer, praising them for bravely wearing an alternative outfit on the red carpet.
Sam Smith didn’t wear the outfit all night, they later changed into another leather number to perform their new single Unholy alongside singer Kim Petras. It was one of the most memorable performances of the night, set in some kind of dystopian car graveyard, where smoke curled around Smith’s face as he sang with a black bowler hat.
Read more about the Brit Awards 2023 here
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