Olivia Rodrigo opens tour with dissolving dress reveal

Olivia Rodrigo opened her Unraveled Tour in Hartford, Connecticut, on September 25 with a staged costume reveal during “The Cure”: artificial rain fell as a white outer dress broke apart, exposing a red outfit beneath, footage and concert images show. The performance took place at PeoplesBank Arena. Rodrigo continued singing as the water-reactive material separated and fell away, turning the reveal into a visual moment during the song. Accounts describe the revealed clothes differently, so the exact garments beneath the dress are unclear. Rodrigo marked the opening night in an Instagram post shared the following day, calling it “magic” and writing that she had been planning the show for the past year. She thanked the audience and credited Es Devlin, Hussein Chalayan and Human Person for contributions to the production. The dress was custom-designed by Hussein Chalayan, whose water-reactive concept appeared in his Spring 2016 collection. The earlier runway presentation used dissolving outer garments to reveal dresses underneath. The idea was inspired by Cuba and its changing political and cultural landscape, according to fashion reporting.