The Genius Behind Olivia Rodrigo's Rain-Soaked Dissolving Dress

Los Angeles hosted the 2026 MTV VMAs on Sunday, yet the weekend's standout music-fashion moment may belong to Olivia Rodrigo instead.

On Friday night, at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn., Rodrigo kicked off the winter portion of her “The Unraveled Tour” wearing a pale blue collared minidress; its bodice was sleeveless, the waistband fitted, and the skirt sharply pleated. Then the rain began falling.

At People’s Bank Arena in Hartford, CT, on Sept. 25, 2026, marking the first of 2 sold-out shows, Olivia Rodrigo performed “the cure” during “The Unraveled Tour.” Christopher Polk

During her performance of “The Cure,” water drenched the custom Hussein Chalayan dress, causing the outer layer to cling to her body and split into irregular, translucent strips, revealing red lace corsetry beneath.

This disappearing dress became the tour opener’s standout fashion moment, though the concept had earlier roots. Rodrigo had released the music video for “The Cure” back in May, marking the first time she comes undone.

Olivia Rodrigo Christopher Polk

In the music video, Rodrigo takes on the role of a nurse within a handmade hospital assembled from cardboard, fabric and yarn. Her outfit includes a custom Dilara Findikoglu button-up dress featuring puffed sleeves, paired with a custom Stephen Jones nurse’s hat, along with an “Olivia” heart name tag made by O.P.P. Jewelry.

Red yarn representing blood starts streaming from her body once she pricks her finger with a needle, and she physically unravels—visible around the 2:18 mark in the video. When the video came out in May, Rodrigo referred to “The Cure” as the “thesis statement” of her album.

Both the video and the tour were styled by Chloe and Chenelle Delgadillo, with the unraveling imagery having been part of Chalayan's brief from the start.

Chalayan told WWD via email, “I had previously made dissolving dresses for my SS2016 collection, ‘Pasatiempo,’” adding, “In reference to this work, I was approached by Olivia’s team to design a piece in response to her song ‘The Cure,’ exploring the idea of revealing a sense of vulnerability as the upper layer dissolves. This seemed very poetic and compelling to me.”

Chalayan, for his spring 2016 collection, positioned two models beneath showers dressed in what looked like white paper lab coats. As water fell, the outer garments disintegrated, revealing delicate cocktail dresses beneath.

A separate development process was needed for Rodrigo’s version.

Models under a shower on the catwalk of the Chalayan spring 2016 ready-to-wear show. Giovanni Giannoni

Chalayan said, “I designed a mini range, from which one design was selected, and we then went through a number of iterations to make sure the dress would be practical for the performance, including how it would look and function before the dissolution took place.” He added, “I worked closely with Chenelle Delgadillo throughout the development, with Olivia approving each step of the process.”

The pale outer dress's simplicity was deliberate.

Chalayan said, “There is an outer dress, which I wanted to keep very simple and pure, so that the reveal would be more powerful.” He added, “It is made from a special paper-like material that dissolves when it comes into contact with water, revealing a contrasting colour lace and tulle corseted dress underneath.”

Olivia Rodrigo Christopher Polk

Getting the dress to dissolve was one challenge; getting it to dissolve at the correct speed while Rodrigo kept singing beneath the pouring water was another.

Chalayan said, “The timing was definitely a challenge, as Olivia also has to be able to sing while under the water.” He added, “There has therefore been a lot of back and forth and testing to get the timing and dissolution to happen in the right way.”

Joel Jolibe and his team also collaborated with Chalayan on constructing the dress.

Hussein Chalayan RTW Fall 2000 Giovanni Giannoni/WWD

This experiment fits neatly into a career built on asking clothes to do more than simply be worn. Among Chalayan’s most recognized designs are his fall 2000 coffee table that turned into a skirt and a spring 2000 molded dress with panels that opened via remote control.

Model under a shower on the catwalk Giovanni Giannoni

Chalayan told WWD in 2019, “I really challenge myself. I am definitely doing things that, in the beginning, I thought I might not be able to manage.” He added, “Risk-taking has always been a big factor for me.”

Model under a shower on the catwalk Giovanni Giannoni

Whether Chalayan and Rodrigo's styling team are working on any other dissolving dresses for the rest of the tour, we don't know — Chalayan told WWD via email that fans would “have to wait and see!” — but everything else she is wearing still deserves its own spotlight, too, we do know.

Around the show's seasonal structure, Rodrigo built the rest of opening night. Amid a field of flowers, she opened spring in a custom Dilara Findikoglu take on the designer's “The Girl in a Room” dress, a white babydoll mini finished with lace and ribbon details.

Olivia Rodrigo Christopher Polk

For summer, the softness gave way to a cropped graphic top paired with hot pink micro shorts, worn through songs like “My Way” and “Serena Joy.” Autumn brought another change, this time to a purple leather minidress from R&M Leathers with a matching choker, worn for a segment covering “Stupid Song,” “Maggots for Brains,” “Traitor,” “Begged” and “Cigarette Smoke.”

The Chalayan dress appeared during winter, alongside some of the show's more subdued moments, before Rodrigo returned to the spring theme for the encore.

Olivia Rodrigo Christopher Polk

Still damp from “The Cure,” she pared things back to a fitted white ribbed tank paired with relaxed, low-rise blue jeans for “Deja Vu,” “All-American Bitch” and “Expectations.” Throughout, the show shifted between Rodrigo's signature babydoll dresses, leather, tiny shorts and jeans, with the Chalayan piece standing out as the sole costume built to transform while worn.

Olivia Rodrigo Christopher Polk

Beyond the tour, Rodrigo's current cycle has been marked by those sweeter shapes, tougher leather pieces and handmade details. She wore a lacy white minidress paired with daisy accessories and tan lace-up boots when she performed at her inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival in August. Before the festival took place, she donned a custom pale pink raw-silk minidress from Ramallah-based Nöl Collective, featuring traditional Palestinian tatreez embroidery with a design of birds and linked daisies.

Olivia Rodrigo, Jenn Stowe, Christian LoBue, Fatima Goss Graves and Caren Spruch attend Olivia Rodrigo's Daisy Chain Fields Press Presentation on August 28, 2026 in Santa Monica, Calif. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Daisy Chain Fields

There's no shortage of chances for Rodrigo to showcase her wardrobe. Two sold-out Hartford shows on Sept. 25 and 26 launched "The Unraveled Tour," which continues through North America, Europe and the U.K. before wrapping up at London's O2 on May 10, 2027. Opening act duties are shared among Wolf Alice, Devon Again, the Last Dinner Party, Grace Ives and Die Spitz throughout the tour's 86 dates and 28 stops, mounted in support of Rodrigo's third album, "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love."