Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is a celebration of Made-in-Italy fashion

Taylor Swift is back. After a 5-year absence from live performance, the pop star took to the stage of State Farm Stadium in Glendale (renamed Swift City for the occasion), Arizona last Friday to kick off The Eras Tour, an event that was already momentous thanks to 2.4 million concert tickets sold in a single day, a record for a solo artist. Anticipation for Taylor's performance was high, and she did not disappoint the 80,000 fans at the first date, who sang, danced and applauded at every look change. In the three and a quarter hour show, the star took the audience on a long and exciting journey through her career, from Lover to Fearless, Evermore to Reputation, Speak Now to Red, Folk to 1989, Debut to Midnights. 10 eras, each marked by a distinct sound and style, 44 songs in all and dozens of outfit changes chosen for her by her stylist Joseph Cassell Falconer. 

Indeed, the Eras tour almost resembles a Broadway show, with music, dance and fashion working together to tell a story, the 17 years that turned a snappy little girl who loved to sing country into a sophisticated pop star with 50 million records sold and 50 million singles worldwide. Much of her life takes place on stage, but there is also a lot of Made in Italy, thanks to the designers who have signed her dresses, which include Oscar de la Renta, Zuhair Murad e Nicole + Felicia, Alberta Ferretti, Versace, Etro e Roberto Cavalli.

Swift set off Lover's pastel look with a shimmering Versace bodysuit, which she paired with Christian Louboutin boots, reminiscent of a similar model at the 2019 American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, as she did for every other look of the night. When it came time to sing The Man, the pop star slipped into a glitter blazer and got the show off to a flying start.

The singer also relied on Roberto Cavalli. The fashion house, headed by Fausto Puglisi, had already dressed the pop star at the Grammy Awards last February, while now it created some tailored looks for her full of glitter and fringe that appeared at different moments of the show. For the Fearless era, when she liked to combine loose blonde locks with glittery dresses and cowboy boots, Puglisi designed an outfit that consisted of a bralette and a mini skirt studded with fuchsia Swarovski crystals, reminiscent of the outfit Swift chose for her 1989 performance at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. The champagne-coloured mini dress with fringes, on the other hand, referenced a similar Cavalli dress Swift wore during her Fearless tour in 2011. Also from the Tuscan brand is the asymmetrical catsuit embroidered with a snake that Swift wears when she performs songs from her album Reputation. The embellishment is reminiscent of the time Taylor was called a snake after an altercation with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, eventually claiming the term as a symbol of empowerment.

Taylor chose two other Italian brands. For the Evermore stage performance, she opted for a saffron prairie dress by Marco De Vincenzo for Etro, accompanied by a dark green velvet cloak with ornaments inspired by nature; while she relied on Alberta Ferretti for the Folklore portion of the concert. The designer said she was thrilled to work for Taylor, a woman whose «work shows that her versatility and creativity is so multi-faceted that she is constantly transforming and renewing herself». So, with her own style milestones in mind, she designed a range of garments that embody «lightness, femininity, romance, attention to detail and a delicate, gentle seduction», chiffon dresses with soft, flowing volumes, declined in lilac and white.