Olivia Rodrigo goes viral for dissolving dress stunt on stage during Unraveled tour | indy100

Photo by Alison Buck/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Olivia Rodrigo kicked off her Unraveled Tour at the weekend in Hartford, Connecticut where she stunned audiences with a melting dress.

At one point in the show, Rodrigo could be seen wearing a white pleated dress while she sang her most iconic ballads such as debut single 'Driver's License' and her song 'The Cure,' from her latest album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love.

It is during the performance of the latter where Rodrigo could be seen singing as rain poured on her, which gradually cause her white dress to disintegrate to reveal a red latex dress underneath.

Olivia Rodrigo performs on stage during Olivia Rodrigo exhibit and program at Grammy Museum on September 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Alison Buck/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

The white melting dress was custom-designed by Hussein Chalayan, who previously used this technique in his spring 2016 collection, where the models in the garments were watered on, which in turn uncovered the palm-patterned dresses underneath embellished with Swarovski crystals.

In a recent interview with WWD, Chalayan explained how he was approached by Olivia's team to design a number inspired by her song 'The Cure' exploring the "idea of revealing a sense of vulnerability as the upper layer dissolves".

"This seemed very poetic and compelling to me," he told the publication.

On the construction, Chalayan explained, "There is an outer dress, which I wanted to keep very simple and pure, so that the reveal would be more powerful.

"It is made from a special paper-like material that dissolves when it comes into contact with water, revealing a contrasting colour lace and tulle corseted dress underneath."

When designing the dress, there were also some factors Chalayan had to keep in mind.

"The timing was definitely a challenge, as Olivia also has to be able to sing while under the water. There has therefore been a lot of back and forth and testing to get the timing and dissolution to happen in the right way," he noted.

On social media, fans have been showing their love for the creative dress design and staging.

One person said, "Nowadays, you barely see artists put this much effort and dedication to their arts, and give a ton of respect and trust to their creative team. Olivia chooses to consistently do so and i really appreciate her for that. i'm so psyched to see how her team crafted this masterpiece!"

"Olivia Rodrigo really said 'watch me unravel' and made a dress change the whole damn show," a second person wrote.

A third person added, "I know his work when I see it," comparing it to character Katniss Everdeen's dresses in The Hunger Games designed by Cinna.

"Olivia Rodrigo wearing a custom dissolving dress by Hussein Chalayan for the opening night of her tour…i just love when performers incorporate fun fashion moments into their shows!!" a fourth person commented.

Meanwhile, it's not the first time Rodrigo's fashion choices have made headlines; the pop star previously responded to criticism surrounding her wearing a babydoll dress during a performance in Barcelona back in May.

The 'Stupid Song' singer sported a short pink floral dress with puffed sleeves when she performed at Teatre Grec in Barcelona on May 8 for Spotify’s Billions Club Live series.

“That’s been making me so upset,” she admitted on The New York Times’ Popcast when discussing how the controversy has affected her.

The 23-year-old went on to note how this kind of backlash indicates, “how we really normalize pedophilia in our culture. Also it’s just this rhetoric we’re fed as girls since we’re so little, which is, don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault. It’s so weird.”

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