How Missy Elliott Gets Supa Dupa Fly for Tour

With a storied career behind her, Missy Elliott is still summiting to new heights. This year, the Hip Hop artist, singer, songwriter, and producer is undertaking her first-ever headlining tour—surely a surprising fact given her indelible mark on music and cultural—the “Out Of This World” Tour. For her two-night stopover in Los Angeles, she knew that no (rhine)stone should be left unturned. “No matter what I’m wearing you know it’s going to be blinged out from head to toe,” Elliott tells Vogue. “I think [my costume designer] June said we’re at one and a half million Swarovski crystals on my outfits!”

Elliott has a lot of ground to cover over the course of her show, and she knew that her stage looks needed to reflect her career from Supa Dupa Fly to Under Construction and beyond. A perfectionist, she turned to June Ambrose for help. “I wanted costumes, not just outfits, so we went all out with the colors and designs. We have four acts in the show and we change for every act, and on top of that we have two different versions so we switch out every few dates,” Elliott says. “I have 25 dancers, so think about it, that’s about 250 pieces of wardrobe! From spacesuits in the intro to graffiti prints that light up for the finale—I had a vision for what I wanted and June executed to perfection.”

For Ambrose, Elliott and her dancers’ costumes were just as much about the esoteric as they were about functionality. “The process started with a conversation with Missy about her vision and how the looks needed to bring the storytelling of her lyrics to life. We merged nostalgic silhouettes of some of Missy’s most recognizable past looks with visions of an otherworldly future,” Ambrose says. “We want everyone watching the tour to be able to see the costuming, no matter where they are sat. We had to consider the movement; the choreography is intense so the looks had to be fully functional to dance in. We want people to remember what they saw in the same way they will remember how they felt.”

But for the artist, it takes more than a costume to become Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott. “I need alone time because, believe it or not, I’m really shy, so after glam and getting suited up, I take a minute to myself to focus and get into my performance zone,” she says. “I need to get my mind, body, and spirit right before every show.”