Fashion

Björk is back – and in a killer Loewe dress

By Liam Hess
Björk at the Northman premiere wearing Loewe

Photo: Courtesy of Huxley

The star stunned in fiery red at The Northman premiere in Reykjavík

There are few musicians working today with the same knack for telling stories through clothes as Björk. The legendary Icelandic singer, songwriter, and producer has always worked with the best in high fashion to build her rich visual worlds, whether through her regular collaborations with Hussein Chalayan and Alexander McQueen at the beginning of her career—who can forget the kimono-inspired McQueen gown she wore on the cover of her 1997 album Homogenic?—or her more recent partnerships with the likes of Bernhard Willhelm and Iris van Herpen.

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As of next week, however, you can expect to see Björk somewhere a little less expected—namely, on your local cinema screen. With the release of Robert Eggers’s lavish Viking epic The Northman, co-starring Alexander Skarsgard and Anya Taylor-Joy, the musician will make an appearance as the Seeress, a witch who shares a prophecy with Skarsgard’s royal warrior Amleth. Björk’s breakout 2000 performance in Dancer in the Dark won her the best actress award at Cannes, but the grueling shoot—during which she repeatedly clashed with the director Lars von Trier—made her swear off ever making a film again. Until, that is, Eggers and his Icelandic co-writer Sjón managed to convince her to join their project two decades later.

Björk and her co-creative director James Merry at The Northman premiere in Reykjavík. Photo: Courtesy of Huxley

While fans of the musician have been patiently awaiting a possible appearance during The Northman’s ongoing promo trail, Björk chose to do so on her own terms, stepping out last night at the Icelandic premiere in her hometown of Reykjavík—and marking her return to the red carpet in typically avant-garde style. Working with her long-time stylist Edda Gudmundsdottir, the striking, blood red gown she wore came from Jonathan Anderson’s Renaissance-inspired spring 2022 collection for Loewe, featuring batwing sleeves and a sculptural breastplate. The final cherry on top was her playful hairpiece, which featured horizontal ombré stripes in red, green, and blue to lend the look its final, fantastical lift-off.

It’s not hard to see why Anderson’s surrealist, cerebral designs would appeal to Björk and her playful eye for fashion, but the look she wore yesterday instantly deserves to sit within her pantheon of iconic looks over the years. The event was also a sentimental one for the musician, too, as she noted in an Instagram post how proud she was to be a part of a film that so thoughtfully explores her Nordic heritage. “It feels good to finally see one’s roots treated with imagination, intelligence, and quality,” she wrote. “I hope this is an encouragement for female directors to take on this period. Here is a humble hope that my partake in this planted a seed that may grow in that direction.” Finally, in a delightfully Björk-ian sign-off, she added: “I summon that tree!” With a look as dazzling as that, consider it firmly summoned.