Whether your Shakira fandom began with the singer-songwriter’s chart-topper Hips Don’t Lie — which dominated the summer of 2006 — or you and the Colombian superstar go back to her early 1990s albums. Or, perhaps you’re a more recent convert thanks to her 2020 collaboration with Black Eyed Peas, Girl Like Me. Either way, there’s no denying that the singer-songwriter’s discography is seriously impressive and alongside it, her fashion is equally strong. So, it makes perfect sense to look back at Shakira’s life in looks, with the lady herself leading the critique.
She signed with Sony Music Colombia when she was just 13 and now she’s celebrating three decades in the music industry as Vogue México y Latinoamérica’s latest cover star. “The life of any artist is full of hits and misses,” Shakira says, sitting down with an iPad loaded with her style history.
The most memorable stage look
Shakira starts by rewinding to her 1992 Latin Grammy Awards look: a red bodysuit teamed with red leather leggings and an embellished scarf tied around her hips. “It was a really special night because I left with a few Grammys myself,” she smiles. “I remember I specifically chose red because I thought red would be a memorable colour… and so the movement of my hips had even more impact.” A precursor to Hips Don’t Lie?
Shakira’s key criteria for her hit outfits
Swiping through the next looks, some of her favourite style hits include: looking “a bit like Xena: Warrior Princess” at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards; “tousled and sexy” at the same awards in 2005; a “fresher image” for the launch of her Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 album; and her favourite look, a simple jeans and T-shirt, accessorised with a Bahamas tan (she lived there in the early 2010s).
And what about the misses?
Moving on to her least favourites. “I don’t know what I was thinking, but it wasn’t good,” she laughs, analysing a distressed denim waistcoat and net bodysuit combo on the VH1 Divas Las Vegas red carpet in 2002. She blames her mother-in-law for a short blonde haircut in 2012: “Worst mistake of my life! Mother-in-law, I’m never taking cosmetic advice from you again!” While a leopard-print dress takes the flak for making her look like “a badly wrapped tamale” on the red carpet.
The selection process when it comes to footwear
Shoes are very significant. Her 2020 Super Bowl knee-highs, she confesses, she’d had for 15 or 20 years. She insisted that ex-Cavalli chief designer Peter Dundas’s team covered them in Swarovski crystals to match the red look he’d designed for her performance. “I’m quite picky about the boots that I sing in,” she explains. “I always feel really uncomfortable in shoes. I’m used to singing barefoot. So there are only two or three pairs of shoes that I like.”
Shakira’s favourite designer
Her go-to designer? Azzedine Alaïa. “He was a great friend and always sorted me out every time I had an event… his style has always gelled with the female figure, with a woman who’s not very tall [Shakira is 5ft 1in], so it always suited me.”
Alternatively, if she has something specific in mind, she’ll create it herself. “When I can’t find what I want, it’s down to me,” she says. And her favourite colour? Purple. Just in case that ever comes up on a Shakira ultimate fans quiz.
