Lady Gaga’s Latest Look Is a Powerful Win for Georgian Designers

Lady Gaga knows how to make quite the dramatic exit. Yesterday, as she left her hotel in New York City, the singer served a regular dose of her hip-popping attitude, this time with a little help from the Georgian designer Akà Prodiàshvili. Gaga was dressed in a full leather look that consisted of a tiny sheeny bandeau top for a full midriff reveal and a high-waisted, body-clinging skirt with a fist-size metal buckle smack dab at the navel. For some of that sassy Gaga take on old Hollywood glam, she wore the ensemble with matching opera gloves that recalled dominatrix garb, hulking lace-up platform boots for another slice of BDSM-core, and a pair of large sunglasses.

The look came from Prodiàshvili’s Spring 2019 collection. The 23-year-old was inspired by the small but vibrant drag scene in his hometown of Tbilisi, Georgia. He cited the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race, including Sasha Velour and Violet Chachki, as inspirations. As for Gaga’s specific look? Prodiàshvili wrote that it was based on “The Matrix’s scene when Neo meets Trinity at the nightclub.”

While this may seem like just another newsy celebrity style look, Gaga wearing a Prodiàshvili design bears heightened meaning in Georgia. Prodiàshvili has expressed his support for the LGBTQ+ community in his designs, a group that is often violently marginalized in Georgia where ultraconservative sentiments are still present. “Lady Gaga is one of my favorite queer artists from my childhood,” writes Prodiàshvili. “She is a big inspiration for any LGBTQ+ representative so for me it is very important to contribute to the community this way.” Call it a very happy and very chic day for Pride month both stateside and in Georgia.