At the 2025 Met Gala, Grammy-winning artist Lorde made a powerful statement about her gender identity, revealing that her custom Thom Browne ensemble was an “easter egg” for her forthcoming album Virgin. The singer explicitly connected her fashion choice to her journey:
“To me it represents where I’m at gender-wise. I feel like a man and a woman, you know.”
This red carpet moment offers fans significant insight into the themes of her highly anticipated fourth studio album, which will be released on June 27, 2025.
The Met Gala, which celebrated the Costume Institute’s exhibition “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” focusing on the cultural impact of Black dandyism, provided the perfect backdrop for Lorde’s revelation. Her custom Thom Browne creation, which she described as “kind of my creation,” featured an open back that held particular significance for her gender identity exploration.
The garment featured an open back that held particular significance for the artist, who explicitly connected this design element to her gender identity exploration.
“All will be revealed,” Lorde teased Chamberlain, suggesting that the full context of this fashion statement would become clearer with her album release.
Lorde’s minimalist makeup approach also aligned with the event’s emerging “no-mascara” trend, featuring “barely-there lifts to her natural lashes,” perhaps suggesting a stripped-back authenticity mirroring her recent personal revelations.
Lorde’s appearance at the Met Gala has evolved, reflecting her artistic growth. In 2021, she wore a Bode look made from repurposed antiques with a beaded crown featuring a trio of sunbursts, showcasing her interest in fashion as art, though with a different focus than her current exploration of gender.
The upcoming album, Virgin, is deeply rooted in Lorde’s journey. In April 2025, she revealed that the album was inspired by her “gender broadening a little bit.” In an interview with Document Journal, she shared,
“I had come back from London to New York after this period of great turbulence in my personal life. Becoming single, but also really facing my body stuff head-on, and starting to feel my gender broadening a little bit.”
Virgin, set to be released on June 27, marks Lorde’s first album since Solar Power in 2021. The four-year gap between albums has significantly transformed the artist, who first gained fame with her debut album Pure Heroine in 2013.
In direct communication with her audience, Lorde elaborated on the album’s themes in an email to fans. She described ‘Virgin’ as an attempt to
“make a document that reflected [her] femininity: raw, primal, innocent, elegant, openhearted, spiritual, masc.”
The inclusion of “masc” hints at the gender fluidity central to the album. She also admitted feeling “scared” about the project, which involves “putting the deepest parts” of herself into the music.
Lorde’s exploration of gender identity builds on previous statements. In her Document Journal interview, she mentioned “coming into my masculinity a bit more,” a theme that influenced her conversations with producers during the album’s creation. This journey seems tied to personal changes, including becoming single and addressing body image issues.
The timing of her Met Gala statement, coming seven weeks before the album’s release, is strategic, generating buzz and setting thematic expectations for listeners.
Lorde’s use of fashion to communicate her artistic vision is sophisticated. By linking her custom ensemble to her gender identity and upcoming album, she turned a red carpet moment into a preview of her creative direction. Her statement, “I feel like a man and a woman,” provides a lens for fans to interpret Virgin upon its release.
