Anitta Kicks Off the FIFA World Cup in H&M
Here’s the story behind the look
Reported by Harper's Bazaar.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 opening ceremony in Los Angeles had three headliners — Katy Perry, Future, and Brazilian pop star Anitta — but only one of them walked out in a boxing-style hooded cape. For her performance of Goals, her official World Cup anthem with K-Pop's LISA and Nigerian Afrobeats artist Rema, Anitta tapped H&M Studio for a fully custom look. According to Harper's Bazaar, the collaboration wasn't a cold call — Anitta has fronted multiple H&M campaigns over the course of a year-long partnership. When a moment this large arrived, the collab was a given.
Built for the Stage, Rooted in Brazil
The look itself reads like a fever dream in the best way: a stark white wraparound crop top with sheer sleeves and strategic cutouts, white chaps loaded with rhinestone-studded cargo pockets, a crystal-embellished belt with elongated chains, and a matching rhinestone harness. The cape — dramatic, theatrical, warrior-coded — came off to reveal all of it. Stylist Janelle Miller described their references as Carnival energy meets superhero uniform, drenched in sparkle. "Since this is such a massive world stage, I knew that the look had to match the moment," Miller said.
Anitta's own brief was clear from the start: the look needed to move. "I dance a lot, so the look needs to work with my body," she said. But beyond function, she wanted the clothes to communicate something cultural and emotional — a full sensory transmission of what it feels like to be Brazilian. "Even if you've never been to Brazil, I want you to feel what it's like to be Brazilian in that moment." Joy, passion, pride — the same vocabulary that makes a World Cup crowd erupt.
The H&M angle is worth noting, too. On a stage this size, with a viewership this global, the decision to partner with an accessible mass retailer rather than a luxury house carries its own message. "I love that their fashion is accessible to everyone," Anitta said. "That matters a lot to me." It's a pointed choice — democratizing the spectacle rather than gatekeeping it behind a designer price tag.
When you get the clothes right, everything else follows — and Anitta clearly knows it.
Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.
