Gunnar Deatherage is revealing what inspired his show-stopping, custom designs for pop superstar Lady Gaga.
“We want to live up to the legacy that she’s created and the road she’s paving — always,” Deatherage exclusively told Us Weekly while attending this year’s YouTube TV Upfronts Brandcast at the Lincoln Center on May 14, where Gaga performed.
“We worked as hard as we could to make something beautiful and something that could withhold her rocking out to it,” he continued. “Also, with someone as iconic as Lady Gaga, it’s pretty easy to think up what to put her in because you already have so many examples … the inspiration kind of writes itself.”
Deatherage clarified to Us that it was his and husband Christopher Minafo’s “first time working with Lady Gaga,” adding that her “team has been amazing.”
“She is such a pro — they’re all pros,” Deatherage added. “So, you know, we came to the table [with] really positive thinking and ready to make something that would hold up to the mayhem of it all.”
The Project Runway alum and Minafo created a custom made, avant-garde headpiece and studded leather boots for Gaga as part of the show-stopping outfit she wore while performing her hit song “Mayhem” on the YouTube Brandcast stage. The hat and boots completed a black leather piece designed by Candic Cuoco, which featured high, cube-like padded shoulders and a heavily pierced, draped corset.
Deatherage revealed to Us that every part of a custom piece “has to have intention” and that “everything on the garment is there for a reason, whether it’s structure to hold it up so that there are no malfunctions.”
“There’s also, like, small details that you can kind of call upon,” he continued. “Like, you’ll notice on the front of the headpiece there are tight feathers that are like a strong spine. That kind of detail [and] the kind of message behind it is [really part of] the creation.”
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The designer told Us that when he and his husband were asked to work with Gaga they immediately “dropped everything.”
“The moment we were asked we dropped everything to work with her,” he explained. “She’s a dream client and, like, kind of the reason that I wanted to start creating. The reason I ever went on Project Runway was ’cause I wanted to work with her.”
He added, “So tonight is a really big moment.”
While the pair were able to create custom pieces for a musical icon, Deatherage revealed to Us that they haven’t actually met Gaga in person.
“We just make the pieces and pass [them] to the stylist,” he explained. “It’s too much pressure to be in the room, honestly.”
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