The art of loving Olivia Dean

Consider this a love letter to the CEO of the best vibes, Olivia Dean, from a girl who has an A3 cutout of her on my work desk and is certain that her 2026 Spotify Wrapped is going to feature a song from the hit album The Art of Loving. In 2025, Olivia Dean, through her music and her style, made us feel soft, sensual, pretty, and seen for the lover girls we are.

To love Olivia Dean is to love intention. Nothing about her feels accidental, not the lyric that lingers, not the hemline that sways just so under stage lights.

As she received the award for Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys, dressed in custom Chanel by Matthieu Blazy and adorned with Cartier, she delivered a speech that felt gracious, grounded, and definitely the need of the hour. It was a coronation moment, yes, but also confirmation of what many of us already knew. Olivia Dean doesn’t just make music; she makes you feel. Her passion for what she does is palpable, and she pours an unlimited supply of positivity into the world through her songs.

There’s a whimsical elegance to her presence. Styled by the genius Simone Beyene, Dean has become the queen of the most flattering custom dresses to be seen on tour, ranging from short to sweeping to gloriously avant-garde. Her wardrobe mirrors her sound: romantic, elevated, and fashion-forward. Few artists have had a stylist interpret their music, performance, and personal style with as much precision and harmony as Beyene has for Dean. 

At the Universal Music 2026 Artist Showcase, she wore a Hervé Léger striped halter dress, with straight hair, and something about this dress felt like fun, like summer, like spring, and like a party, all in one.

Rewind to 2025, and her Hyde Park performance in Louis Vuitton set the tone for a summer of sartorial highs. The one-shoulder silhouette, paired with her voluminous hair and chic sunglasses, radiated Aperol-sipping energy (the dancing-on-tables kind, not the sitting-down kind).

Forwards Festival followed with a hot pink moment from Dean, an instant personal favourite. The Conner Ives dress, paired with Celine sunglasses, felt like it supercharged her already high-energy performance. No one looks happier to be on stage than Olivia Dean. She doesn’t perform for an audience; she performs with them. Her body language is open, her smile infectious, her curls bouncing like punctuation marks at the end of every joyful note.

Leaning fully into Y2K pop-star territory, the look was playful and nostalgic yet unmistakably her, never costume, only and only tasteful character.

By December in Sydney, she was commanding the Fleet Steps in Oscar de la Renta for her headline show... a dress I think about daily. The neckline was nothing short of magnificent, and the colour worked absolute wonders on Dean, amplifying her glow under the harbour lights.

Television appearances only solidified her status as a fashion icon. On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she wore a white fringed mini dress by London label Feben, paired with tonal white Jimmy Choo heels. Sculptural jersey fringe turned every movement into art, perfectly complementing her performance of 'Nice to Each Other'.

Then came November’s SNL moment in custom Versace by Dario Vitale, where she both looked and sounded angelic. The soft baby-pink hue, paired with a cape-like drape flowing from her back and delicately tethered to her hands, created a striking, mesmerising, and utterly dreamy silhouette.

And yet, perhaps even more telling is her airport look. Fresh from a chintzy Rachel Gilbert sequin mini and a ravishing Richard Quinn ball gown in Sydney, she landed at departures in an oversized leather bomber jacket, blue barrel-leg jeans, and a Burberry Nova Check scarf, Rimowa suitcase in tow. It was giving Notting Hill pub, off-duty It girl. She just showed us how effortless cool is as intrinsic to her as couture.

Beyond the clothes, beyond the accolades, Olivia Dean is the happiest performer on any stage she steps onto. She radiates sunshine. Her voice carries warmth,  her posture holds gratitude. There’s an emotional intelligence in her music that feels lived-in. She sings about love not as fantasy, but as practice, something you return to daily, even when it’s difficult.

The art of loving Olivia Dean lies in how easily she makes space for softness. In an era obsessed with irony, she chooses sincerity and honesty. In a culture that prizes detachment, she offers devotion. Her wardrobe twirls between Chanel and Conner Ives, Versace and vintage-coded winter layers, but the throughline is always the same: femininity without fragility.

To fall for Olivia Dean is to fall for the possibility of feeling deeply, and dressing like you own the world. And if The Art of Loving taught us anything, it’s that romance isn’t naive. It’s brave. And in both music and fashion, Olivia Dean wears that bravery beautifully.

Image credits: Getty Images

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