A guide to Doja Cat’s style evolution
Written by ABR on 18/09/2023
Doja Cat is pop’s foremost provocateur, both sonically and sartorially. Since exploding into the international pop consciousness with the viral parody “Mooo!”, the singer-slash-rapper has come up to become one of the music industry’s heaviest-hitters, topping charts and setting TikTok trends with bops like “Say So!”, “Kiss Me More”, “Need to Know”, and more.
Doja isn’t just a trailblazer when it comes to music. She’s also one of pop’s most daring, directional fashion stars. From “Mooo!”’s lo-fi cow-stume to “Demon”’s insane prosthetic work, Doja isn’t afraid to commit to a concept. Or a bit. For the interstellar music video for “What It’s Like”, the singer transformed herself into a sexy green woman. For “Handstand”, she commissioned jeweller Chris Habana to create a custom machine gun bra.
On the red carpet, Doja’s just as much a trend-setter. In 2021, she dared to wear AVAVAV’s weird-and-wonderful claw boots. She effectively made glassware label Heven a household name when she wore the label’s Coperni-collab handbag to the Grammys. As her fashion star has risen, she’s become a favourite of some of the industry’s most prestigious houses (Versace and Valentino) and an enfant terrible or two (Jean Paul Gaultier).
As the singer prepares to release her fourth studio album, Scarlet, we take a look at how her style has evolved from the beginning of her career to today.
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“Mooo!”, 2018
Bitch she’s a cow! Doja Cat burst onto the pop music scene in the most millennial way possible: by going viral. Months after dropping her debut album Amala to somewhat lukewarm response, the pop sensation-to-be took to YouTube to self-release “joke” song “Mooo!” It was an overnight hit, dominating online discourse (and listeners’ inner monologues) and racking up tens of millions of views within a week of its release. The song, with its catchy hooks and iconic one-liners, gave us a taste of Doja’s popstar persona: part lyrical genius, part pop crooner, part internet troll. The video’s wardrobe — a cow-patterned tie-front set and pair of furry bovine ears — gave audiences a (lo-fi) glimpse into the kind of campy costumery we could come to expect from the star in the years to come.
At the BET Awards, 2019
Welcome to Doja’s Hot Pink era. In November 2019, the star released her much-anticipated sophomore album Hot Pink. The color that defined the era was — you guessed it! — pink, in all its myriad forms, from bubblegum to Pepto Bismol and mauve. On the album cover, Doja rocks long fuschia locks. To the album’s launch party, she donned a feather bustier in electric flamingo. Performing “Juicy” on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she slipped into a watermelon catsuit. Here, at the BET Awards, she wore the era’s Hot Pink-est look, a playful take on her feline stage name, complete with cat ears, collar, feather teasers, and balls of yarn all in shades of blush, cherry, and Persian rose.
“Say So” music video, 2020
Remember “Say So”? The Hot Pink earworm became the sound of 2020, taking over TikTok and spawning one of the platform’s most viral dance trends to date. The chart-topping single was a watershed moment for the rapper not just musically, but sartorially as well. Creative director and stylist Brett Alan Nelson drew from the song’s disco sound to outfit its music video, dressing Doja in Boogie Nights halter dresses, glittering Saturday Night Fever jumpsuits, and that butterfly-embellished ensemble. The rest of the era’s promotional looks — a Bob Mackie-esque gown to the Billboards and a very Cher-inspired look to the VMA’s — followed suit stylistically.
Compared to “Mooo!” and Hot Pink, “Say So” took a more subtle, sophisticated (rather than OTT) approach to its concept, positioning Doja as a serious pop fashion contender.
At the Grammys, 2021
By late 2020, it seemed that Doja had performed “Say So” on every Late Night stage and at every awards show under the sun. And yet, the invites kept pouring in. As she grew tired of singing the same track week-after-week, the singer and her stylist Brett looked for a way to change things up. Brett ended up sitting Doja down with a copy of 2002’s Chicago, suggesting that they build a cabaret-style performance for the upcoming BBMAs. The rest is music show history.
Following, Doja brought “Say So” to the rest of the awards show circuit in a number of similarly disparate renditions. At the EMAs, she screamed her heart out à la Evanesce’s Amy Lee in a tattered slip dress and stockings that recalled Courtney Love. For the Grammys, she geared up for an electrifying performance in a JPG-designed latex catsuit that was reminiscent of Janet Jackson’s goth era. Whether she was crooning like an Old Hollywood starlet or being abducted by aliens, each performance proved that Doja was a true pop chameleon, both sonically and sartorially.
At the Grammys, 2022
“Ninety percent of the [outfits Doja wore] during Hot Pink were custom [made] because a lot of designers weren’t ready, a lot of people didn’t get us yet,” Brett told i-D last year. By 2022, Doja had become a Gen Z icon and a trendsetter in her own right. And, finally, the fashion industry got it.
Where labels like Schiaparelli and Jean-Paul Gaultier were a little slower on the uptake, Versace had been there since day one. The Italian house had dripped Doja in its signature chainmail for the VMA’s back in 2020. Two years later, the house outfitted her in a duo of diamanté dresses as she scooped her very first Grammy award for “Kiss Me More”, a duet with SZA.
Also there to share the spotlight? A glass handbag by Heven and Coperni, the former of which was catapulted to internet virality by the placement. That’s the trend-setting power of Doja.
At Lollapalooza, 2022
If we had to choose one item to define the Planet Her festival circuit, it would be the bra top, hands down. Doja wore the item to Lollapalooza, ACL, and even to Balmain Festival at PFW. Whether rendered in shredded denim or glittering diamanté, each outfit was a clear homage to the looks that powered 90s and Y2K legends like Lil Kim, TLC, and Janet Jackson.
At the Billboard Music Awards, 2022
Doja’s Planet Her visuals — all intergalactic and out-of-this-world — culminated in her 2022 Billboard Music Awards look: a space-age column gown and Saturnine clutch by buzzy Parisian house Schiaparelli. “I’d been begging for years to put her in Schiaparelli,” Brett told i-D. “I’m obsessed with Daniel Roseberry. He’s really pushing the limit.” Just like Doja.
At the Schiaparelli haute couture show, 2023
If it’s not obvious by now, Doja is one of pop culture’s biggest IDGAF warriors. “We don’t really care what anyone else thinks,” the star’s stylist Brett told i-D in 2022. “[Doja’s] not doing anything because someone wants her to do it. She’s doing it because that’s how she feels in the moment.”
The star’s most shocking style transformation arrived in the Summer of 2022, when she abruptly buzzed her head days before fashion month. What followed was a series of viral beauty looks that pushed the boundaries of celebrity street fashion and, of course, went hugely viral. Throughout the festivities, Doja took to the front row in glittering gold skin and took Paris by limo in blue kabuki make-up. The star’s most memorable look arrived on the steps of the Schiaparelli 2023 couture show with the singer’s body encrusted in 30,000 red Swarovski crystals. “It’s so inspired. It’s one of the most inventive moments of my entire career,” Doja told Vogue about the beauty moment.
At the Met Gala, 2023
The fantastical beauty looks didn’t end with 2023 fashion week. Months later, Doja took to the Met Gala’s red carpet as Karl Lagerfeld’s pet cat, Choupette, in a series of hyperreal facial prosthetics and a frothy, cat-eared gown by Oscar de la Renta. “[She’s] always messing with the idea of beauty norms,” the star’s stylist Brett told Vogue prior to the event. “Ever since she’s shaved her head she’s felt this freeing energy […] that you don’t have to follow what other people think beauty is.” So, what did Doja have to say about the look? Simply, “meow.”
“Demons” music video, 2023
It looks like Doja’s in her villain era. The singer’s new single “Demons” ushered in her latest extreme beauty transformation, with Doja going demon mode in prosthetic devil horns, wicked claw-like nails, and obsidian body paint. With its satanic implications, the look immediately stirred up a flurry of online controversy and ire. Love it or hate it, Doja’s latest look just goes to show she’s still one of pop music’s most stylish provocateurs.
ABR Group