Mark your calendars: Katy Perry’s sixth album is imminent. This week, the singer finally revealed the project’s name (143) and release date (Sept. 20) after months of teasing new music. Though other details about the album are scarce, per Variety, Perry’s upcoming body of work is a “bold, exuberant, celebratory dance-pop album with the symbolic 143 numerical expression of love as a throughline message.”
While Perry is ushering in a new era musically, sartorially speaking, she’s drawing inspiration from the archives — hers, to be exact. On her new cover art, for example, she wore a sculptural’ fit that evoked costumes of singles past. Behold, her “E.T.” 2.0 spicy alien glam.
Katy’s “Alien Chic” Body Plate
On Wednesday, July 10, Perry shared 143’s cover art and it was out of this world. In the photo, the American Idol judge floated like a divine being in front of what seemed to be a portal to a different dimension.
Her outfit was equally ethereal. Perry wore nothing but a totally transparent resin body plate with an exaggerated neckline and hips. The sculptural masterpiece made her look like an actual work of art, like a futuristic Birth of Venus.
Her bottoms weren’t any less translucent, either. A clear, plastic-adjacent fabric wrapped around her legs as a skirt, with ruched details around the hips.
Though it’s currently unconfirmed, the resin body plate looks exactly like the ones Mugler sent down its Spring/Summer 2024 runway during Paris Fashion Week.
She Served “E.T.” 2.0
It’s not the first time the singer evoked imagery of floating through the cosmos. In 2011, Perry dropped “E.T.,” her alien-inspired hit. In the accompanying music video, the singer was floating through the galaxies in exaggerated otherworldly costumes.
One look in the video, however, was nearly identical to her latest 143 outfit. In one scene, Perry also wore a sculptural body plate with a draped skirt.
One key difference is that her 13-year-old look was much more dramatic, with a darker color palette and more severe makeup. Meanwhile, her latest look was more natural-looking.
She’s Been Leaving Easter Eggs
No one has been mixing fashion and music like the “Firework” singer, who’s apparently been leaving a trail of sartorial breadcrumbs for months. In April, Perry announced her new album on the red carpet when she paired an elegant LBD with a tiny transparent purse. Inside was a scroll that read, “KP6 TOP SECRET.”
While fans assumed the lone album clue was the scroll, it’s now clear that Perry also subtly alluded to the album’s uber-spicy visuals with her glass accessory — a true style mastermind.
She’s just transcendental, on another level.