Another Star of Usher's “Past Present Future” Tour? The Wardrobe.
Though Usher has held us in his thrall for over three decades, it’s clear that the singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and sex symbol is having a career renaissance. Fresh off his wildly popular Las Vegas residency, a record-breaking Super Bowl halftime performance (at over 200 million viewers, it was the most watched in history), and the release of his ninth studio album, Coming Home, the undeniable king of R&B is now on his “Past Present Future” world tour. While the aptly named tour is a celebration of his musical legacy, it’s also been a study in the many iterations of his undeniably suave style over the years, from My Way to Confessions.
“On stage, I always think about what’s going to be most impressive for the moment,” Usher told Vogue while in New York for a four-day run of shows. “What s going to be iconic, what’s going to be memorable, what s going to be comfortable and allow me to feel what I need to for that section.”
For his tour, Usher turned to stylists Yashua Simmons and Jeremy Haynes—as well as costume designer Shiona Turini, who styled Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” tour, as consultant—to help him create a show-stopping wardrobe. The aim was to deliver nostalgia and new thrills in equal measure. From a futuristic crystal-embellished Robert Wun couture coat and hat that Usher wears to open the show to a custom Guccighost ensemble by Trouble Andrew that references the Clockwork Orange-inspired music video for “My Way,” the stage looks help to illustrate the journey of the show through Usher’s songbook.
While all the looks were carefully selected to visually tell the story of “Past Present Future,” the sheer physicality of the show also meant that the styling team needed to check that every outfit could stand up to the gyrating, skating, and over-the-top showmanship that’s become the signature of the Usher Raymond experience. This meant ensuring that the custom all-crystal Cout De La Liberté and Vetements couture looks that Usher dons to dexterously skate could move and breathe as much as they could wow the crowd. For Haynes, Usher’s hands-on approach made the collaborative process not only seamless, but fun.
“Usher is an extremely creative person and he has a really important point of view on fashion,” Haynes told Vogue. “I would definitely say that he is the fourth member on our styling team, because he definitely has a lot to say—he s not just going to put an outfit on and go, he wants to design it along with us in the process.”
Simmons added that Usher has been instrumental in helping to curate looks, especially ones that are for specific stops on the tour. For example, for the New York leg, the show featured oversized archival looks from Marc Jacobs, while other stops, including a special birthday show, will include different sartorial surprises.
“He is such a lover of fashion and has such strong ideas that the show is constantly evolving from a fashion perspective,” Simmons told Vogue.
For Usher, fashion has been an integral part of the storytelling that’s central to his music. He fondly remembers the now-iconic yellow full Versace look he wore as a 15-year-old for his 1993 music video, “Call Me a Mack,” that was selected because it helped to convey the precociously suave persona of the track. Now on tour, his fashion continues to be a valuable narrative device—a Rick Owens look evokes Burning Man during the act that features his early to mid-aughts foray into EDM, while sparkling suits from Celine and Dolce Gabbana are nods to the debonair style he championed early in his career. Through this, he hopes that the tour’s fashion helps to make the shows a fresh and unforgettable experience for attendees.
“With a 30 year career, it s not always easy to find ways to excite your audience,” Usher said. “I’ve been very fortunate to work with a lot of creative people to help me find very unique ways to create new, iconic stories.”