Olivia Rodrigo Revives Disco Shorts—With a Punk Twist—During a Surprise Set in Barcelona
And she performed with a punk icon
Reported by Harper's Bazaar.
There are pop stars who use festival appearances to coast, and then there is Olivia Rodrigo, who showed up to Barcelona's Primavera Sound last night and turned an 11-song surprise set into a full-on moment — musically, sartorially, all of it.
The outfit alone earned its column inches. According to Harper's Bazaar, Rodrigo pulled on high-waisted disco shorts from Los Angeles Apparel, a silhouette that traces its origins back to the 1970s nightclub circuit but landed here as something rawer — styled with a mod black-and-white striped top, black fishnet tights, and Dr. Martens knee-high lace-up boots. The effect read less Studio 54, more early-2000s indie sleaze, which is exactly the aesthetic register Rodrigo has been dialing into for her upcoming album rollout. A large floral brooch pinned to her chest, ribbons trailing from it, gave the whole look its off-kilter finishing note. It's the kind of accessory choice that separates actual style from costume.
The Collab Nobody Saw Coming
The fashion was one thing. Then Robert Smith walked out. Rodrigo debuted "What's Wrong With Me," a track off her third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love — and The Cure frontman was right there onstage to deliver the feature in person. It marks the first collaboration in Rodrigo's discography, and if you were going to pick anyone to initiate a post-punk baptism, the man who wrote "Lovesong" is a reasonable choice. Rodrigo called Smith "one of the most brilliant, legendary, wonderful people to ever exist" in an Instagram post after the show, adding, with characteristic lack of chill: "5 days holy shit!!!!"
The broader context matters here. Nearly a year after wrapping her global Guts Tour, Rodrigo is building toward a June 12 release with the kind of deliberate creative vision that a lot of artists her age haven't figured out yet. The babydoll dresses, the Jane Birkin vintage pulls, the disco shorts reimagined through a punk lens — none of it is accidental. She's constructing an aesthetic world that matches the sonic one, and both are more sophisticated than the industry expected from a third album.
When your surprise festival set doubles as a look book and a cultural event, you're not really surprising anyone — you're just confirming what people already suspected.
Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.
