Lady Gaga’s Coachella 2025 Performance Was a Love Letter to Alexander McQueen: Her Theatrical Looks and Fashion Easter Eggs

Lady Gaga’s Coachella 2025 performance had everything her fans learned to expect from her, including dramatic fashion. Inspired by her latest album “Mayhem,” the singer brought outstanding theatricality to the main stage of the festival on Friday, paying tribute to Alexander McQueen and wearing looks that embodied the show’s storyline: the duality between opposing forces, light and dark.

While performing one of her first hits, “Poker Face,” Gaga nodded to McQueen’s spring 2005 “It’s Only a Game” fashion show, bringing a three-dimensional chess set to the stage.

McQueen, who was known for his theatricality, introduced his spring 2005 collection in a similar set, positioning the models as chess pieces.

During “Paparazzi,” Gaga made another reference to McQueen, wearing a flowing, ethereal white fabric extending from her arms and creating a wing-like effect. The look resembled a moment from McQueen’s fall 2003 “Scanners” show. Gaga also wore a metallic breast plate, nodding to her “Paparazzi” outfit.

A longtime fan of the late designer, Gaga has been spotted wearing several iconic Alexander McQueen pieces over the years, including in her ”Bad Romance” music video, at the 2009 Video Music Awards and the “A Star is Born” movie premiere in 2018.

During her 110-minute performance, which was divided into five acts, Gaga also wore a bondage-inspired black leather jacket from Dolce & Gabbana’s spring 2003 collection, a lingerie-inspired black minidress and a ruby-red satin dress both designed by Samuel Lewis and Seth Pratt, and a custom Dilara Findikoglu look, while performing in a sandbox.

Other standout fashion moments included a dramatic red gown that elevated her above the audience, a “Cabaret”-inspired look during her “Scheiße” performance.

This makes Gaga’s second time as a Coachella headliner, since her first time in 2017. The singer performed songs from “Mayhem,” including “Abracadabra,” “Perfect Celebrity,” “Disease,” “The Beast,” “Killah” and “Die With a Smile,” as well as fan favorites like “Poker Face,” “Judas,” “Paparazzi,” “Alejandro,” “Born This Way” and “Shallow.” She will return to the festival on April 18 at 11:10 p.m. PST.