Presenting: The One and Only Doja Cat
All eyes are on Doja Cat, whether the Grammy-winning artist is on stage or in the front row.
Photography by Greg Lotus
Styled by Brett Alan Nelson
This past January, Doja Cat sat front row at the Schiaparelli Spring 2023 Couture show with her skin—from head to toe—covered in tens of thousands of red crystals. The result was magnetic. You couldn’t take your eyes off of her, even though she was sitting next to fashion legend (and Elsa Schiaparelli's granddaughter) Marisa Berenson, and near Kylie Jenner, who was wearing a realistic faux lion’s head on her gown.
In that moment, Doja Cat transformed from mere pop star into a bonafide fashion superstar. Not content to rest on her Schiaparelli look, at the Viktor & Rolf show two days later, the singer’s beauty look consisted of unconventionally worn false eyelashes, which formed eyebrows, a mustache, and a soul patch. It was a wink to those who had suggested she should have worn lashes at Schiaparelli.
Doja, née Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, has been making waves since 2018, with her novelty hit “Mooo!,” her 2020 breakout “Say So,” and her inescapable and effervescent album Planet Her in 2021. The singer has amassed 16 Grammy nominations, including a win for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Kiss Me More” with SZA.
At just 27 years old, it seems like she’s cycled through as many personas as Madonna. It’s true that whether Doja is dressing like a rock crystal alien, writing a song for the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, or shaving off her hair, this is a woman who is unwilling to put her art or self in one box. Rather, she is a true creative spirit who is unafraid in how she presents herself. Doja is willing to try anything. She caught up with L’OFFICIEL via Zoom from her home in California, where floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked a dry landscape outside. She was wearing a wig à la Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction, sipping a clear beverage with a straw, and painting. We had a far-reaching conversation about art and creativity that covered everything from the clothes in When Harry Met Sally, perfectionism, Frank Lloyd Wright, and whether talking about astrology is corny.
DOJA CAT: You want to see me?
MARISA MELTZER: Yeah, I would love to, if that doesn’t sound too creepy.
DC: [Turns on camera.] I’m just in the middle of painting. I have a studio up here. I [painted] an egg, and it was a nightmare doing that.
MM: It reminds me of Leonora Carrington. Do you know her work? She was one of the few female Surrealist artists. Where do you get inspiration for your art?
DC: I think I don’t have a favorite. I like Dalí. That’s kind of the first one I ever named. And then there are a few on Instagram. There’s one guy, his whole name, all three names are first names—Steven Parker Jackson. He’s really dope; he did some stuff for the Jordan Peele movie Nope. He did the little alien figures.
MM: Would you have a gallery show of your art in the future?
DC: I need to prove to myself that I deserve that first. I don’t know if I’m good enough to do that. Some people just put a little splatter of paint on a canvas and it sells for $100,000 sometimes.
MM: How will you know if you’re good enough? How did you know when your music was good enough to be out in the world?
DC: Well, I shared it on SoundCloud and Facebook and I kind of needed that feedback. And I got two likes, and that was enough for me...because I love doing it.
MM: Are you a perfectionist? Are you hard on yourself?
DC: Sure, I can be that way. Sometimes I definitely beat myself up. I have those days.
"I'm down to sacrifice my comfort; I'll do anything for that fantasy that I have in my head."
MM: Is fashion and the way that you wear your makeup or how you get dressed a creative act for you?
DC: Obviously I’m down to sacrifice my comfort; I’ll do anything for that fantasy that I have in my head. But yeah, I think in my personal life, I really enjoy finding the line between being comfortable but also doing something that’s exciting with whatever I’m wearing. And it’s been sort of like a game for me.
MM: Anyone in particular that you’re excited about?
DC: You know who I love? Charlotte Knowles is a designer, and she did my dress for the Grammys this year. It was brown leather, and it was very tattered and it was very cowboy, that kind of vibe. And I love that.
MM: Tell me about how the Schiaparelli look came together. It was so beautiful and scary.
DC: [My stylist Brett Alan Nelson and I] wanted to do something really major for fashion week. I love Schiaparelli, and so anytime Brett brings Schiaparelli, I’m 100 percent in. But he was like, “Yeah, Schiaparelli wants to do something with you.” And before he could finish his sentence, I was like, “Yes.” There are sketches, and everything he’s sending, I love them. I fall in love. I got to Paris, and I did a few shows before Schiaparelli. Super smooth, super easy, fun, loved it. I didn’t realize I had to get up at four in the morning [the day of the show] to get there by five or something. So we get there, and I didn’t realize till I sat down in the chair that I had gastroenteritis. So I had gotten super ill.
MM: Oh no.
DC: And I’m sitting there, and I feel the twirling of a knife. Also, the whole crew was so sweet. The whole glam team was so understanding and so sensitive and kind. It was great and very professional. I was trying to joke around and make light of the situation, but as time progressed, it only got worse. My stomach felt like there was a blade in it, and it was just spinning 100 miles per hour. I never felt pain worse than that—and on one of the most important days of my life! So it was full of emotions and just crazy feelings. Pat [McGrath] was so sweet. She kept on giving me ginger ale and all these different things to help settle my stomach.
MM: And what are they doing? Are they dipping the crystals in a little bit of glue and just sticking them on you with tweezers, one by one?
DC: So I had my arms out, I was sitting down, and I had underwear and a bandeau on. They started with a layer of red paint, and they just covered me in that and then a layer of glue, and then I think they dusted glitter on top. Then the crystals. And I would have one, two, three, four people on my body as this was happening, just all around me, working on different sections of my body.
MM: It was worth it, right?
DC: Yeah, definitely. I’m very, very proud of it.
MM: What else do you want to do? Would you ever design clothes?
DC: I would probably design clothes. I’m already 27. And I’m sure there are people who are late bloomers in fashion, but I have no history of making clothes, so I don’t know. But I do know that there are things I want to see in fashion. So maybe if I had a talented team that could help me materialize those thoughts, that would be something that I’m interested in. But it feels like such a laborious task. I paint, so that’s very easy, to stick a brush in some goo and slap it on a canvas.
MM: I don’t know, I’m like, 27? You have so much time to learn to be a fashion designer if that’s what you want. But also, late 20s is an interesting time, with Saturn returns.
DC: I didn’t even know about Saturn returns until three or four days ago. My mom’s super into astrology, and I always shit on astrology until I have a crisis and I need an answer. So I thought it was really very interesting, the Saturn return thing, because I was really going through it. I feel like there’s always also the trope of that girl at the club that’s like, “Oh my God, what is your sign? You’re really giving me Gemini energy.” That kind of vibe. Those are my least favorite kind of people. They upset me. And I literally have friends who are like that, and I just tolerate them. But I don’t fully trust people like that. I can’t do it. I can’t do it.
MM: Yeah. I mean, astrology has become such a weird thing too, with the memeification of it and the TikTok and Instagram of astrology. It’s a lot. Did you have fashion heroes, either now or growing up, or people from before you were born?
DC: I would say my fashion hero is probably my ex. I met [him] maybe two years ago, and he taught me about different things like interior design and different amazing, legendary people like Frank Lloyd Wright. He had a very adult, sophisticated style. And I was sort of the opposite of that when we met. And I really loved the way he seemed very at peace and at one with himself. I was not in that place in my life, and so I was inspired. And in the way that you say hero, I feel like he was a hero of mine as far as fashion went. And I feel like I dress a lot more sophisticated now than I ever have. And I’m not afraid to just dress down, because I had the curse of dressing up all the time. It can be stressful. And it’s nice to just go out and feel like you look good, but you’re not trying so hard.
"I really do love simplicity because I struggle with it so much. It's something that feels alien to me."
MM: There’s a vulnerability to it, I imagine, when you know you might get your picture taken at any time, just to dress down and be yourself. Do you think of the way that you dress in terms of your career phases, the way that Madonna had her different looks?
DC: I definitely go into different phases, for sure. Well, I think that my mood changes with the season. In the summer or in spring, I like to wear a lot less clothing and I like to wear very poppy, bright, really on the nose of what the season is. I love bright colors and this and that. I dress in sequins and metallic and I dress like...what’s her name from Legally Blonde?
MM: Elle Woods.
DC: I dress like I’m in Legally fucking Blonde. And then in fall and winter and throughout the rest of the year, I really love dark tones. And I’m dressing like a pirate now. This is my thing. I just Amazoned a pirate hat, and I’ve been not wearing it because it looks so stupid. [Gets pirate hat and puts it on.]
MM: I don’t know; it’s cool on you.
DC: It’s so steampunk that it hurts. I just want to find that medium between...I love history and I love historical fashion.
MM: Really exciting things can come style-wise when you lean into things that scare you or feel a little off or costumey. Be the pirate.
DC: I really do love simplicity because I struggle with it so much. It’s something that feels alien to me, and that’s why I’m intimidated by trying to convey the simple look. You want to know something? Angelina Jolie and Meg Ryan are my two...I’m obsessed with their whole look. All of it. Just Angelina wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with fucking jeans and a boot and some sunnies. It just feels like she woke up and it was nothing. And she just looks incredible. That was something that I was moved by. And then also Meg Ryan, back when she was wearing a big giant coat. She would wear these big coats with shoulders and hats, but it didn’t look like she was trying. It looked like that was who she was, and it fit perfectly. It was satisfying to see just a pair of jeans and some boots for me. When Harry Met Sally: all of those outfits in that era, I loved that. That was one of my favorites. I reference [Ryan] a lot, and Angelina, when we’re with my glam and we’re talking about fashion and stuff.
MM: Those looks resonate because a lot of those were just their clothes. They didn’t have stylists. They would even go to premieres wearing their own clothes. And there’s something so satisfying about that.
DC: It’s always okay to do something campy and crazy and fun, but there’s nothing like a casual outfit that looks fucking great. There’s nothing like looking like you didn’t even try, but you look better than most of the people around you.
MM: And is that also how you stay from crossing the line into not just being a persona? Having those moments that are more like taking a dip, more naturalistic, more raw?
DC: You have to have more muted moments so that your more major moments are effective when they’re executed.
"I'm one person who will not exist again...so whatever I do, it's going to be original."
MM: You need the peaks and the valleys. Are you working on any new music?
DC: I am. Slowly but surely. I have probably 10 or 12 or so songs.
MM: Do you listen to other music while you’re making music?
DC: I do. I listen to a lot of music, but I listen to music that I don’t make. I listen to some Japanese House. Dead Can Dance. Drop Nineteens. I was listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins.
MM: You’re mentioning genres that aren’t like what you make; will they influence what you’re making? Will things sound different?
DC: No, it actually doesn’t, which is so interesting, because I think I’m solely influenced by the things that I grew up on. And I didn’t grow up on Cocteau Twins. But it’s definitely a place for me where my mind can rest when I hear music like that. I avoid listening to rap. I don’t listen to anyone’s music because I feel like that influence is so strong. I don’t live under a rock, but I do tread lightly, because sometimes I definitely can emulate the people that I love the most. And I’m trying to be original.
MM: Although your idea of emulation could sound so original.
DC: No, and that’s the beauty of it. And that’s what I look for. I’m one person who will not exist again. There’s not more than one of me. So whatever I do, it’s going to be original.
HAIR JStay Ready
MAKEUP Laurel Charleston
MANICURE Saccia Livingston
PRODUCTION Daniele Carettoni
RETOUCHING Lara Chrome
STYLIST ASSISTANTS Kristen Richie, LJ Perez, Tumas Zarskus, and Malia Rusher
MAKEUP ASSISTANT Edwin Monzon
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Daniela Colton
