Dua Lipa’s Going-Out Top Is Made of 740 Vintage Buttons

Don’t expect Dua Lipa to wear just any going-out top. Hers, naturally, would be constructed of hundreds of buttons from the ones a designer has kept in a box since her childhood.

During a recent brief jaunt to London, the superstar took a special Lou de Bètoly couture top out for a spin. The multicolored halter design is made of gray, blue, and purple pebbles—strung together with winding navy yarn. The buttons that make up the top—all different sizes and hues—are actually knickknacks that designer Odély Teboul has been amassing since she was a kid in the 1990s.

Her most recent collection, presented at Berlin Fashion Week in January, came from a self-imposed prompt to work only with trinkets she had gathered over the years. As a result, the 37-look presentation used tens of thousands of buttons from her personal collection—which she washed, sorted, and crocheted into sculptural garments. The top Lipa wore had 740.

Other items featured in the collection—like bags and vintage undergarments—were centuries old. The designer’s couture approach to repurposing antiquated items fits right into Lipa’s texturally rich sartorial taste. But she is not the only star whose interest has been piqued.

Lou de Bètoly has also provided custom looks for Beyoncé—who wore a gilded bodysuit made from old cellphones and charger cords to perform—and Charli xcx—who donned a cardigan and pencil skirt fashioned out of scraps of tattered black yarn for The Moment premiere.

Clearly, today’s It girls have an affinity for beautifully bizarre outfits constructed of dust-collecting tchotchkes. Consider this all the more reason to never throw away your spare buttons.