Rosalía Is CUUUUuuuuuute

Dress and boots MCQUEEN BY SEÁN MCGIRR Earrings PANCONESI

By Willa Bennett

Photographed by Yis Kid

Styled by Lorenzo Posocco

When I think of Rosalía, she’s at a fashion show, four years ago. The then-27-year-old is lounging in the front row at a Nike Olympic uniform unveiling just a few days ahead of NYFW. Virgil Abloh is on her left. Drake, on her right, is in a rare pair of Supreme sneakers (and mixing stacked gold and silver rings). Rosalía, or Rose, as her close friends call her exclusively, sits between them hunched over in a Marine Serre bodysuit.

If I blink quickly, Rose is in a Chopova Lowena skirt on my Instagram page, but then she’s sporting a custom blue Off-White™ dress in her music video for “CANDY.” Rose cares about designers, and the right ones, too, I might add: Prada, Acne Studios, Rick Owens, Gerrit Jacob, Junya Watanabe. I will never forget her performance at the Louis Vuitton show in Paris, where her new friend Colm Dillane of KidSuper asked her to perform as a favor; her voice was omnipresent. It was the second time I’d seen the Spanish singer, songwriter, and producer perform.

Watching her years later, it’s hard not to wonder if the now 31-year-old Rosalía knew that El Mal Querer (the project that she started as a college student at Barcelona’s Catalonia College of Music) could single-handedly achieve such unprecedented mainstream resonance. And El Mal Querer was only in 2018 — before MOTOMAMI or the endorsements from Abloh. This was before the selfies with Kylie Jenner, Billie Eilish, and Arca, and her song “TKN” with Travis Scott; before the Dior contract, the Met Gala look that took 1,800 hours to make, and the AF1 Nike Espadrilles.

Sometimes I wonder if she’s almost too good at all that: A pap picture of her at the farmers’ market or a perfectly timed quote about friendship-turned-romance goes instantly viral. Rose posts a selfie crying from cutting onions on a random March morning and gets 2 million likes. A hotel room filled with flowers for her 31st birthday drives her fandom mad. But the truest of fans and followers can attest to an inexplicable depth uncovered when she performs. Her voice is impeccably crisp and she has undeniable range. In “DESPECHÁ,” she sings about going out even while heartbroken; and in “CUUUUuuuuuute,” she advocates for staying present with your feelings.

This is the Rose who shows up to set for Highsnobiety in Los Angeles. No famous friends around her; no memes or jokes. She doesn’t check her phone or Irish exit. Rose can’t help but be CUUUUuuuuuute. She’s a visionary, too, of course, with an excellent fucking voice and a real sense of style.

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Below, hang out with Editor-in-chief Willa Bennett & Highsnobiety’s September cover star Rosalía Vila Tobella.

Why did you say yes to being on the September issue of Highsnobiety?

I was really excited to do this shoot with you and Jesus (Yis Kid)!

What was your style like growing up?

I’d use the term choni, which, according to Webster’s, means an attempt to look elegant, but it mostly ends up looking tacky. I love having fun and experimenting with clothes. Lately, I am really into [graphic] T-shirts that make me laugh.

What was the first expensive item you bought for yourself?

Versace jewelry. I love nice jewelry!

I love how you support emerging designers. You loooove Chopova Lowena. You sang at the KidSuper show in Paris. Who are your favorite emerging designers right now?

I really like Elena Velez — although I am not sure she’s emerging anymore. I really like the fabrics and colors of Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen.

I always think about that photograph of you next to Virgil just ahead of NYFW. What did you and Virgil talk about?

Virgil was a sweetheart. I remember I really liked a blue velvet sheath dress that Bella Hadid previously wore. I [was talking to] him and he ended up making it custom for me so I could wear it for my “CANDY” video. He just was that kind of person, you know? The kind who does things for other people just because.

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The Off-White™ dress you wore in “CANDY”! Fans on Reddit looooove that dress.

Yes, that’s exactly it!

You were wearing Marine Serre in that photograph. Have you met her?

Yes, we met! Back in the day I loved La Lunita — like everyone else I guess.

What clothes were you drawn to during the making of your most recent album?

I think what attracted me the most were the motorcycle helmets that I incorporated into the cover, the videos, and the shows. I wanted to use everything that was motorcycle equipment and accessories to create the MOTOMAMI looks, and it’s something quite personal to me because both my father and my mother are bikers, and it’s something [I grew up with] and that I have been around ever since I was very young.

Congratulations on the Dior contract, by the way.
Why Dior?

It’s one of those houses that’s going to outlive all of us. I admire the brand’s elegance and timelessness.

What is your relationship like with Maria Grazia Chiuri?

Since the first day that I met her, I had this sensation of calidez. I love her sense of humor and I really love talking to her about music and pasta, and [the team’s] ability to work and search for excellence in everything they’re doing.

Tell us about your new album?

It’s been a process. I’ve changed a lot, but at the same time, I’m still wrapping my head around the same things. It’s like I still have the same questions and the same desire to answer them. I still have the same love for the past and the same curiosity for the future.

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I read in an interview that your influences span from Bon Iver to Kate Bush to Aphex Twin and Janis Joplin. You can hear that in your sound and see that in your style. What would you say are your biggest influences today?

These influences are still current influences. But right now, I’d also say my biggest influences are reading paper books.

You’ve been in LA. How would you describe LA to someone who hasn’t been there before?

The sky is very vast and radical: There is no middle ground, either it is very clear or it is very cloudy. And it is the most inaccessible sky I have ever seen. It is as if it is always far away from you. It is also a city in which there are always things going on, but at the same time, it has a rhythm of a movie shoot or something like that: There are many moments of waiting and many liminal spaces. Also, the trees in LA, they are unforgettable. They grow exuberantly, and that exuberance lasts and destroys the sidewalk. That impresses me.

What’s something
you really hate?

Having to use a car to do anything because the distances are inhuman. I MISS MY TRUCK, THOUGH. I named my first album Los Ángeles because conceptually that linked to death… but also as a call to the future — I’ve wanted to come!

What do you love the most?

The light.

Who was the last person
you DMed?

To my friend Carlota, I said: QUÉ TAL.

If you could be EIC of any magazine in
the world, which would you pick and why?

I would start my own magazine.

Have you ever been in love?

Obviously!

What does love feel like for you?

A disorder and a superpower.

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