The Fashion Awards, held annually at London’s Royal Albert Hall and presented by Pandora since 2023, are legendary for a several reasons. Firstly, the star-studded guest list – that this year included Rihanna, Precious Lee and Issa Rae – all wearing cutting-edge red carpet looks, of course. Then, there’s the awards ceremony itself, in which fashion’s up-and-comers are recognised alongside titans of the industry. And last but certainly not least, there are the musical performances in between, that are nothing short of iconic.
The opening performance slot is the most sought-after of them all, given it sets the tone for the whole event – and so it felt fitting that for 2024, it be filled by the outrageously talented, supremely stylish Pandora global brand ambassadors Chloe and Halle Bailey. Not only did it mark the sisters’ first performance together in two years, but it was their Fashion Awards debut, too.
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‘We have never been to the Fashion Awards,’ Halle told ELLE UK ahead of the event. ‘We’ve always seen it and done our “ooh”s and “aaah”s over the beautiful designers and fashion galore, so we were honoured to be here this time. We found out that we were performing like three months ago, and we immediately knew what song we wanted to perform. We were instantly excited.’
The song in question was a dramatic rendition of Bee Gees’ To Love Somebody – the same track featured in their recent Pandora BE LOVE campaign – mashed up with Want Me from Chloe’s upcoming album. It marked a return to the duo’s roots and a nod to the future all at once: ‘We always used to cover songs, and that was our way of being seen and getting supporters and fans,’ explained Chloe. ‘You know, they would love to hear our renditions of these classic songs that we all know and love. So it was really beautiful to be able to come back to that thanks to this beautiful collaboration with Pandora… It was fun for us to figure out how to mash the two together and create and tell a story about our sisterhood, about our love lives, about everything.’
Of course, the sisters made sure to have fun with their fashion choices for the occasion, too – both on and off the stage. For their red carpet arrival, both opted to wear statement corseted gowns by British designers. ‘I think it’s crazy how we’re always in sync in some way,’ said Chloe, who wore a black fishtail latex dress made in London by Atsuko Kudo. ‘I really love it because it’s edgy and flattering and, you know, latex, but it’s still giving classy ball gown in a way,’ she told ELLE UK.
Halle, meanwhile, wore a structural design by Ellie Misner featuring bead and pearl embellishments. ‘Tonight is all about celebrating new, young artists who are talented, and we’re grateful to be on this platform showcasing that,’ said the star prior to the event.
The duo then changed into matching Dilara Findikoglu looks, another British-based brand that brought extra layer of drama to their performance and perfectly suited their haunting harmonies. ‘Fashion is so important to us when we’re performing. It’s another outlet of creativity, of expressing ourselves…’ explained Halle. ‘Our on stage performance style is definitely more sexy, more confident, more boom in your face. Like we wouldn’t walk around with a big veil and cape on in the middle of the street!’
‘I think we both really love clothes to make us feel sexy on stage,’ continued Chloe. ‘I think we both sort of go into another part of ourselves, like the more confident, alter ego of ourselves. The more, “I’m here. I’m on stage. I’m doing wonderful.” That’s the girl we bring out. So we always want to feel sexy and ready to go, empowered.’
And as for their jewellery? Pandora, of course. Both sisters opted for impressive stacks of the brand’s lab-grown diamond necklaces, earrings and rings on the red carpet, while for the performance they wore bespoke Pandora Moments chokers glistening with the brand’s iconic charms. ‘Every piece and every part of us has to be like “shine, shine” and “va va voom!” added Chloe. ‘So it only made sense to wear Pandora jewellery on the stage so it could catch the light and really be epic and give that extra star power.’
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