Coachella took over the California desert once again this past weekend, and as always, it wasn’t just about music.
The annual festival has become a global hotspot for celebrity sightings, chaotic fashion choices, and over-the-top performances.
Festivalgoers plan for months just to have their outfit moment in the sun, while celebs arrive with entire styling teams and dramatic entrances. The desert heat doesn’t stand a chance against this kind of theatrical energy.
Some came to serve. Others … well, at least they tried. This year, Coachella’s style mood was bold, bizarre and borderline supernatural.
Lady Gaga made her grand return to the Coachella stage, and it was clear from the jump that she wasn’t here to keep it cute.
The performance, titled "The Manifesto of Mayhem", was split into five theatrical acts and ended with a haunting version of "Bad Romance".
Gaga channelled full ritual energy with skulls, witchy lighting and that classic blood-red shade that’s been haunting stages lately. For her opening act to "Bloody Mary", she gave satanic ceremony realness because, of course, she did.
She wore an armoured helmet and walked on crutches during Paparazzi, a clear throwback to her iconic 2009 music video.
Then came the twisted battle against her past self during "Poker Face", featuring a tall, pale figure in the infamous "Bad Romance" crown.
For the final nostalgic punch, she pulled out the lace-up stiletto boots that matched the pair she wore at her last-minute Coachella 2017 appearance and in the Rain On Me music video from 2020.
Before her final bow, Gaga’s voice said: “We are monsters, and monsters never die.”
Neither do these fashion flashbacks, apparently.
The Grammy-winning girl Tyla made her Coachella debut this year and channelled peak early-2000s realness in a vintage Dolce & Gabbana look pulled straight from the Spring 2000 runway.
The outfit included a sparkling crystal mesh bra peeking out from under a white cropped tee, paired with a teeny red-and-white brocade mini skirt dripping in black glass fringe.
The Y2K vibe is perfect for Tyla’s age and style: playful, sexy, and not trying too hard (even though we know she did). In her own words to Vogue, “The skirt is barely anything and that’s just how I like it.” Period.
She added a few finishing touches that screamed “from Johannesburg to Coachella”: torn fishnet tights (a spontaneous decision, apparently), belly chains, chunky hoop earrings, and leopard-print boots by Burju.
And because Tyla stays in her business bag, she also wore jewellery from her Pandora collaboration. She’s the face of the brand now, so it was a serve and a cheque.
And then there was Lisa from Blackpink, who said “sun protection” in the most dramatic way possible.
She stepped on stage swaddled in a massive black puffer coat - despite the desert heat - which was dramatically whisked away to reveal a reptilian bodysuit covered in head-to-toe scales.
Was it a fashion statement or an Illuminati shout-out? We'll never know. But word on the street is she was serving “reptilian villain,” and with 20 fibre optic tendrils glowing like alien tentacles, she might’ve just pulled it off.
This is tech meets fashion.
Lola Young took to the Coachella stage with a look that was equal parts grounded and gritty. She donned a moss-green ensemble featuring a cropped top and matching cargo-style trousers, exuding an earthy vibe.
The outfit was complemented by long gloves and layered necklaces, adding a touch of bohemian flair to her performance attire. Despite battling illness, Lola's commitment to her craft was evident, and her outfit mirrored that resilience, practical, unpretentious, and effortlessly cool.
Fans praised the "Messy" viral singer for embracing her body and serving a look that they can relate to in many ways.
While everyone else was busy trying to be aliens and witches, Tink said, “I’ll just be stunning, thanks.”
American rapper Tink ditched the ball gown and came through looking like an ethereal Cinderella with street cred. She rocked a corset bodysuit, dripping in fringe, and paired it with thigh-high silver boots that probably caught the desert sun from every angle.
It looked like a masala gatsby wrapped in foil but still, we're here for it.
Tink performs "Treat Me Like Somebody" to close out her first #Coachella set pic.twitter.com/OlTR7P3bI3
— ☆☆ (@gottaloveralph) April 13, 2025