Two Music Festivals, One Weekend: Tate McRae Is In Full Pop Star Mode

For any performer, headlining a big music festival would be quite the undertaking—but this weekend, pop star Tate McRae doubled the pressure.

The singer served as a main act at both Montreal’s Osheaga festival (on Saturday night) and Chicago’s Lollapalooza the next. The back-to-back schedule may have been both exciting and grueling, but it served as a dream come true for the Canadian star. “Lollapalooza has always been one of those festivals I’ve dreamed about, so getting to come back and headline this year is honestly such a surreal feeling,” McRae tells Vogue. “Headlining is a huge milestone for me, and I really wanted to make this performance feel like an experience people would remember.”

Performing her big hits like “greedy” and “sports car,” McRae certainly did not disappoint with her banger-filled sets. (Also not to be missed? Her signature sharp choreography.) Ahead of the big shows, however, the singer worked closely with creative director Ludovic de Saint Sernin to cultivate custom looks for both stages.

“Working with Ludovic has been the best,” says McRae. “He has this way of making things feel sexy but still really elegant, which is something I love. He understands women and what makes you feel confident the second you put something on. It’s really fun getting to create with a friend—sharing references back and forth, getting excited about the same ideas, and then seeing them come to life. That’s honestly my favorite part.”

Photo: Nesrin Danan

The creative process began with a trip to Paris, where McRae, Sernin, and her image director Ignacio Muñoz first began discussing the overall look and feel of her dream festival wardrobes. “We spent time talking about the world we wanted to build together, and I loved the idea of blurring the line between fashion and performance,” says McRae, who landed on a specific inspiration to drive both sets. “We were really inspired by Pierre Huyghe’s exhibition at the Bourse de Commerce—it felt so immersive and unexpected, and I kept thinking about how you could create that same feeling on stage. I wanted the show to feel cinematic and transportive, where the custom looks that Ludovic designed, the choreography, the visuals, and the music all feel like they’re part of the same story.”

Leaning into a more theatrical set (see: her Grecian pillars at Osheaga), McRae needed bold statement fashions to match. But instead of leaning into more-is-more designs, McRae and Sernin actually decided to strip things back—choosing stage looks that were clean, minimal, yet still visually striking. “I wanted the clothes to feel light, fresh, and sharp,” says McRae. “From the very beginning of the creative process, I always pictured myself in a low-rise pair of pants and a white top. I kept seeing this really clean, all-white look in my head, so that became the starting point.”