Back when Nicola Formichetti used to curate Lady Gaga's looks

On the upcoming seventh of March, Lady Gaga will return to music with her new album Mayhem, which, with its first two singles, Disease and Abracadabra, has already promised the pop star’s return to the over-the-top looks that defined the rise of her early career and had disappeared after the release of Chromatica in the distant 2020. And seeing Lady Gaga's new costumes created by the stylist duo Peri Rosenzweig and Nick Royal, better known as Hardstyle, one cannot help but think of the first and most fundamental support that Lady Gaga had in her incredible journey through fashion: Nicola Formichetti. Indeed, when considering the visual kaleidoscope that is Lady Gaga's style, there is no distinction between her persona and her image. Her aesthetic, built together with Nicola Formichetti—known in Gagapedia (the pop star’s fandom) as Mr. Gaga—perhaps represents the most successful partnership between a celebrity and an artistic director. Formichetti never liked the term stylist, as he considered it too limiting for his role: it was not just about choosing outfits but about sculpting a visual identity, creating a language capable of redefining the boundaries between fashion, art, and music. Their meeting took place in 2009, during a photo shoot for the American magazine V. Their collaboration took shape with the release of the reissue of The Fame Monster. Gaga was on the rise, a phenomenon rewriting the rules of show business, while Formichetti was already an established name in fashion, serving as fashion director of Vogue Japan. From that moment on, their bond became more than just a collaboration: a creative fusion that would redefine pop culture, using body and image as tools of radical expression. Chameleonic, avant-garde, transgressive, surreal—if we were to create a list of keywords to describe the work done by Gaga and Formichetti, these would be the first to come to mind. Before being collaborators, they were—and still are—friends.

For the general public, Formichetti might have seemed like a name inextricably linked to Lady Gaga, but in the fashion world, the reality was quite different. When the singer had yet to achieve global success, he was already one of the most admired stylists among industry insiders. «He is not trying to make a name for himself through Lady Gaga, and she knows it well,» said Jo-Ann Furniss, editor of Arena Homme Plus, a magazine that frequently published the works of the Italo-Japanese stylist. Every Lady Gaga look, under Nicola Formichetti’s visionary guidance, transcended the concept of fashion to become an immersive spectacle. They weren’t just clothes but performative acts that spoke of sexuality, identity, and transgression, shaping a world where beauty was a fluid concept. Every Gaga appearance was destined to remain etched in collective memory. In 2009, Lady Gaga released The Fame Monster, an EP accompanied by a cover resulting from an exceptional dream team: behind the camera was Hedi Slimane, the muse was Gaga herself, while the artistic direction and styling were curated by Nicola Formichetti. Hair styling was entrusted to Peter Savic, and makeup to Billy B. The black-and-white shot had a dark, cinematic tone. Gaga wore a black vinyl cape, a piece from the label House of Blueeyes by London designer Johnny Blueeyes. The garment came from the brand’s FW09 collection, titled Don't Be Afraid of the Darkness Within, inspired by classic Hammer horror films from the '60s and '70s. An image that marked a shift in her aesthetic, projecting her into a darker imaginary world.

The album includes the track Bad Romance, heard for the first time in an exclusive world premiere during Plato’s Atlantis, the last fashion show designed and created by Alexander McQueen. The music video for the song features more than twelve McQueen looks, selected by Nicola Formichetti, along with accessories created by Haus of Gaga, the creative collective responsible for the singer’s image, for which Formichetti was long the fashion director. The song's success was immediate and overwhelming. In 2010, during the MTV Awards, Bad Romance won the award for Best Music Video. For the occasion, Formichetti commissioned designer Franc Fernandez to create the famous Meat Dress, a dress made entirely of real meat. The asymmetrically designed outfit, featuring a wide neckline, was crafted with extreme care to ensure a solid structure. Fernandez meticulously selected the most suitable cuts of meat, primarily from the flanks of a bovine, chosen with the help of his trusted butcher. To ensure a perfect fit, the dress was sewn directly onto Lady Gaga backstage, just before her stage appearance, which would shock the world and solidify her status as an unpredictable and controversial global pop star.

Beyond her connection with Alexander McQueen, Lady Gaga has established deep relationships with almost all of the most influential fashion houses and emerging designers in the fashion landscape. On the Maison Gaga platform, created by her fandom, there is a monthly archive that meticulously recaps nearly every look worn by the singer from 2007 to today. Formichetti’s working approach with brands was meticulous and entirely focused on building Lady Gaga’s aesthetic. There was never a passive adaptation to a given fashion house; rather, it was the opposite: even the most institutional and rigorous fashion houses granted Formichetti free rein when it came to dressing Gaga. One example is the 2010 Grammy Awards, where the pop star wore a custom Armani Privé dress made specifically for her. Perfectly aligned with The Fame Monster aesthetic, the look radically deviated from the classic couture universe of the maison. The same happened for the September 2010 cover of Vanity Fair US, in which Gaga appeared wrapped in a transparent dress with a metallic corset, another custom Armani Privé piece, born from the creative dialogue between Formichetti and Giorgio Armani himself. An aesthetic so unconventional for pop music at the time that it pushed even the most traditional fashion houses beyond their own boundaries.

In May 2011, with the release of the album Born This Way, Lady Gaga was consecrated as a true superstar. The highly anticipated album contained musical influences ranging from Whitney Houston to opera, from Madonna to rock, to techno, and even the heavy metal of bands like Kiss and Iron Maiden. On April 17, 2011, the cover of the year's most awaited album, Born This Way, was revealed. The photograph, taken by Nick Knight under the artistic direction of Nicola Formichetti, portrays a fusion between Lady Gaga and a motorcycle. Both critics and even the most loyal fans were disappointed. Sean Michaels of The Guardian commented: «It looks more like a cheap Photoshop effect than the cover of the year's most anticipated album.» A removal of futuristic glasses, asymmetric haircuts, even her magical horns, but a mutant bike with Gaga’s face and arms. Despite the criticism of the album cover, by June 1, 2011, Born This Way had already become the best-selling album worldwide in 2011 in record time. With 288,000 copies sold on the first day and 1,108,000 in the first week in the United States alone, it surpassed one million copies sold even outside the American market. The album also debuted directly at number one in the charts of 16 countries, from Japan to Norway. During the Born This Way era, every image related to the album's singles and every public appearance, under Formichetti's direction through House of Gaga, left an indelible mark on the history of music and fashion. Among the most iconic moments, Lady Gaga’s arrival at the 2011 Grammy Awards inside an incubator.

Formichetti, in an interview with Variety for the tenth anniversary of Born This Way, recalled: «The Born This Way performance at the Grammys was an incredibly significant moment for all of us. We collaborated with British designer Hussein Chalayan to create the incubation capsule in which Gaga arrived on the red carpet. I remember being backstage while Gaga was still inside the capsule. She asked me to tweet for her, so I wrote: "Hi, I'm Nicola. Gaga is in incubation and we’re about to perform."» It was an iconic moment. Formichetti's success skyrocketed, so much so that in 2011 he was appointed creative director of the French fashion house Mugler. It was Gaga herself who urged him to accept the role immediately while continuing to serve as her artistic director. «At the time I joined Mugler, Gaga was still on tour with the Monster Ball. She flew to Paris to walk the Mugler Day runway. She wore two runway outfits—one where she smoked in a tight latex suit, similar to those we’ve seen recently, and the second was a white Alien Queen look. She loved the collection so much that she wanted to wear a leopard-print bodysuit for the after-party,» Formichetti told Variety. During the Born This Way era, even Gaga’s everyday looks reached a new level of theatricality. Unforgettable was her arrival at MAC Viva Glam in New York, in September 2011, wearing a crocodile leather dress by Azzedine Alaïa and the iconic latex boots with sky-high heels, by then a staple.

Beyond the revolutionary looks of the music videos, such as that of Born This Way, where Lady Gaga’s style underwent an androgynous metamorphosis, Formichetti dressed her in a black jacket with men's trousers, mirroring her twin’s look. But the key event of this transformation was the official introduction of Jo Calderone, Gaga’s male alter ego, introduced in the You and I music video. The character had been teased on the cover of Vogue Japan, without explicitly revealing that it was Gaga. However, both critics and fans immediately recognized her. «Not only did Gaga create a male alter ego who was ambiguously gay-friendly (with Sicilian origins and a job as a mechanic), but she even hinted at a sexual relationship with him—that is, with herself. It all makes sense,» wrote Vogue Italia in 2011. On August 3, 2012, Lady Gaga revealed in a LittleMonsters.com chat that ARTPOP would be the title of her new album. Released in November of that year, the album’s cover was unveiled on October 7, 2013. Created by artist Jeff Koons, the cover features a three-dimensional statue of Lady Gaga, wrapped in a blue sphere, set against an interpretation of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. The ARTPOP album was positively received, but not immediately. It took time to understand this latest shift and transformation, which eventually became Lady Gaga’s modus operandi. The New York Post called it «ArtFlop.»  However, fans embraced it, with songs like Applause climbing the charts. The album’s more playful approach, with what Gaga described as «more danceable samples,» was at the heart of ARTPOP, which was meant to be written in all caps—a decision made by the singer herself.

The ARTPOP era also brought with it the end of a long collaboration, the one between Formichetti and Lady Gaga, which lasted for two albums and five years. «She will always be my favorite, but from now on, my assistant will take care of her look,» Formichetti explained to WWD. In that interview, he recounted how exhausting and nerve-wracking it had become to work with Gaga, who changed outfits at least 12 times a day. Additionally, his workload outside of Gaga's life was increasing, with his role as Diesel's creative director and the launch of the cashmere line in Japan for Uniqlo. «I'm too busy with other projects to follow her personally. I've already done two albums with her, totaling five years of collaboration. I will still be involved in some way, but I can't dedicate every day to her. She changes outfits at least 12 times in 24 hours, it's exhausting!» Formichetti told Cosmopolitan at the time. During the ARTPOP period, Lady Gaga was accompanied by stylist Brandon Maxwell, Formichetti's assistant. The music video for the song Applause from her fourth studio album, ARTPOP, released on August 19, 2013, was directed and shot by Inez & Vinoodh with Maxwell's contribution to the styling. For the magical Houdini-inspired scene in the role of the Mad Hatter, Gaga emerged from a giant top hat wearing a top from the Artisanal Haute Couture FW13 collection by Maison Margiela, along with a bodysuit with a mirrored leg and customized shoes, created in collaboration with Natali Germanotta and Muto-Little Costumes.

Maxwell accompanied Lady Gaga until 2018, when he decided to step away from his role as her stylist, leaving the management of her look for the 2019 Met Gala to his assistants Sandra Amador and Tom Eerebout, who were included in the Hollywood Reporter’s ranking of the most famous and influential stylists in the world in 2019. In particular, Gaga wore a Maxwell look for the 2019 Met Gala. In 2020, on the occasion of the release of the album Chromatica, Formichetti returned as Gaga's fashion director, having maintained a solid friendship with her over time. This comeback also marked a return to the aesthetic that had shaped a generation, which in 2025 continues to be celebrated thanks to the revival of the “old” Gaga, moving away from the more desaturated image of recent years. The synergy between Gaga and Formichetti was not just about towering wigs or armadillo shoes. It was a play of mirrors, an alchemy of trust and aesthetic intuition that rewrote the codes of pop, transforming Gaga's body into a living archive of images and symbols. A visual dialogue that was not limited to the surface but delved into the very identity of the star, crystallizing her iconography and overturning the rules of the mainstream.