Dua Lipa steals the limelight in jaw-dropping rhinestone gown

British pop sensation Dua Lipa made heads turn as she graced the pink carpet at the UK premiere of Barbie in London on Wednesday. 

The 27-year-old hitmaker radiated elegance and glamour in a multi-coloured, sheer rhinestone gown that captured the sparkle of the evening.

Dua didn’t shy away from making a bold style statement with a plunging neckline, elevating her look with an audacious choker and matching earrings. Her radiant look under the spotlight was the perfect testament to her star status in the music industry.

But her association with the film goes beyond her appearance at the premiere. Dua has lent her voice to the iconic Mermaid Barbie in this highly-anticipated fantasy comedy, set to hit theatres on July 21. 

MORE: Dua Lipa, Michaela Coel and Penélope Cruz have been announced as Met Gala 2023 hosts 

She also brought her distinctive musical flair to the Barbie soundtrack, creating the infectious lead single Dance The Night, which was officially released on May 25.

Despite the global acclaim and success she enjoys, Dua remains grounded, attributing her down-to-earth personality to her close-knit circle of friends and family. 

© Mike Marsland/Getty

“My friends and family keep me extremely grounded,” she told Fearne Cotton on the Happy Place podcast. “I can sit at a table, and I’m not the most important one, and I never want to be.”

Dua went on to share how she cherishes her normality amidst her extraordinary career. “I have friends around all the time – they’ll ignore me in my own house. That’s exactly where I want to be – this is perfect. My job is extraordinary, but I like to think of my life as normal,” she added.

© Gareth Cattermole

But this sense of normality wasn’t easy to come by. Initially, the sudden fame took a toll on Dua’s daily life. 

“I didn’t understand why there was all this attention,” she confesses. “I didn’t want to leave the house if I wasn’t wearing makeup, in case the paparazzi would get a picture. Those things would work me up, and it stopped me from doing things I really loved.”

In the pink: Barbiecore explained

© Matt Winkelmeyer

Barbiecore may have entered fashion parlance in 2022 but it has been around for several years. Rapper Nicki Minaj has channelled Barbie to such an extent throughout her career, fans have dubbed her “Barbz”. And the hundreds of Barbiecore Pinterest boards created since 2019 show how pink couture has captured the public’s imagination.

Its 2022 surge can be ascribed to Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli whose pink-themed Valentino Fall runway show in March of that year took the fashion world by storm. The trend was further turbocharged both when Anne Hathaway attended another Valentino show wearing nothing but pink and a flood of fuchsia-clad celebrities rocked up at the Grammy’s,

With the release of Greta Gerwig’s much-anticipated movie in July, Barbiecore is here to stay and the unconverted may as well get on board now or face looking rather drab this “Barbie summer”. So if your wardrobe is distinctly lacking in pink, check out HELLO!’s guide to the 12 things needed to perfect Barbiecore in 2023.