Megan Thee Stallion's Halloween Look Required 700 Hours of Labor
A Cirque du Soleil collaboration produced a 400-square-foot origami skirt for the rapper's Las Vegas party.
By Mei Lin ·
More than 700 hours went into constructing the outfit Megan Thee Stallion wore to her annual Hottieween event in Las Vegas. The rapper and actress donned an elaborate orange, black, and white ensemble designed by Cirque du Soleil. The look aligned with the event's theme, which was titled Thee Circus is Coming.
Miodrag Guberinic, the costume designer, described the piece as a whimsical riff on iconic Cirque du Soleil shows. The team included 23 artists in the creation process. They used more than 50 yards of fabric to build the garment.
The skirt featured an origami pumpkin design. It consisted of 12 panels, each standing nearly six feet tall. The material covered more than 400 square feet of custom-printed and hand-painted surface. Guberinic noted that the skirt was embellished with 13 3D-printed jester faces that resembled scary pumpkins. This imagery reflects the artist's long-standing use of pumpkin motifs in her social media Halloween posts.
The construction included complex elements to allow for movement and transformation. An accordion sleeve was built from 120 individually patterned pieces. More than 50 magnets enabled the skirt to separate into four sections. These features allowed the star to shed layers throughout the night.
Gabriel Dubé-Dupuis, the creative director for Cirque du Soleil, recalled the meeting in New York City where the mock-up was presented. He said the rapper screamed with excitement and took photos of herself in the costume before the final work began. She wanted the design to evolve from an attention-grabbing entrance to something suitable for partying.
Guberinic said the artist specifically requested more skin to be revealed. He stated that she wants to be sexier, so the team opened up the design. The rapper also told Dubé-Dupuis that she saw herself in the look and could envision wearing it through the entire night.
This year's Hottieween follows a busy schedule for the Grammy winner. She made her Broadway debut in March as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. She headlined the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in late October and released an EP titled Tina Tuesday Freestyles last week. A portion of the proceeds from the Las Vegas event will go to her Pete & Thomas Foundation.
