Spare Billie Eilish from your Twitter criticisms: She already knows what you’re going to say about her incredible British Vogue cover, and she is not bothered one bit..
The newly-blonde singer is the fashion magazine’s June cover star, with the magazine showcasing the usuall-dressed-down Gen Z pop icon sans her signature baggy wardrobe and in a whole new light.
Serving up a “classic, old-timey pin-up” look, Billie breaks new fashion ground in a pink custom Gucci corset and skirt over lacy Agent Provocateur lingerie, accessorised with elbow-length latex gloves.
“I’ve literally never done anything in this realm at all,” she told the magazine about the new look, before adding with a smirk, “Y’know, besides when I’m alone and shit.”
In other photos, the 19-year-old pop star wears a slew of custom, form-fitting body suits, revealing the much-discussed tattoo on her right upper thigh and hip.
Last year, Billie told her fans that they’d “never see” the ink, prompting major speculation. Apparently, she’s changed her mind, because the artwork is on display in multiple shots.
In the accompanying interview, Billie, who is outspoken against body-shaming and has sparked dialogues about the objectification of women’s bodies in music, pre-emptively addresses the backlash she knows the Vogue cover will inspire.
“‘If you’re about body positivity, why would you wear a corset? Why wouldn’t you show your actual body?’” the singer said, parroting potential criticisms of the photoshoot. “My thing is that I can do whatever I want.”
Instead, Billie said she’s all about focussing on “what makes you feel good” in this period of her life, naysayers be damned.
“If you want to get surgery, go get surgery,” she added. “If you want to wear a dress that somebody thinks that you look too big wearing, fuck it – if you feel like you look good, you look good.”
Echoing a similar sentiment on Instagram, Billie wrote that she “loved doing this shoot,” encouraging her millions of followers to “do whatever you want whenever you want” and “fuck everything else” in the caption.
Since skyrocketing to superstar levels of fame, the Bad Guy singer has carved out her own fashion niche, preferring to sport oversized and brightly-coloured items because of her self-described “toxic” relationship to her body.
But the Grammy-winning musician is keen on breaking out of the boxes she’s been put in as she continues to evolve as an artist.
“Suddenly you’re a hypocrite if you want to show your skin, and you’re easy and you’re a slut and you’re a whore,” she said. “If I am, then I’m proud.
“Me and all the girls are hoes, and fuck it, y’know? Let’s turn it around and be empowered in that. Showing your body and showing your skin – or not – should not take any respect away from you.”
Last week, Billie released the single Your Power off of her upcoming sophomore album Happier Than Ever, which will be released later this summer.
In the music video, Billie stands alone on a mountainside, as a large snake wraps around her body, slowly constricting her.
The stripped-down acoustic number takes aim at an unidentified figure who abuses their power; in the British Vogue interview, she said that the song serves as an “open letter to people who take advantage – mostly me”n.
“I would like people to listen to me. And not just try to figure out who I’m talking about, because it’s not about that,” Billie said.
“It’s really not at all about one person. You might think, ‘It’s because she’s in the music industry’ – no, dude. It’s everywhere.”