Meet Samuel Lewis, the Australian Taiwanese designer behind Lady Gaga’s Grammys 2025 look

The 67th Grammy Awards, which took place on February 2, was a feast for the eyes with celebs serving stunning looks on the red carpet. Lady Gaga was one of the stars who upped the ante, sending her Little Monsters into a frenzy at the sight of her gothic ensemble to commemorate her upcoming seventh studio album, Mayhem.

Marked by a laced-up leather mourning jacket and distressed silk faille ballgown skirt, the custom look had the internet rejoicing at the return of “Goth Gaga”—an aesthetic that stirs up nostalgia for the artist’s meteoric Bad Romance era.

The fashion designer to thank? Budding Australian Taiwanese demi-couturier Samuel Lewis.

Read more: Paris Haute Couture Week: How Asian couturiers have made their mark

Australian Taiwanese designer Samuel Lewis (Photo: courtesy of Samuel Lewis)

The recent graduate of Italy’s prestigious Polimoda fashion institute boasts an impressive list of clients from Madonna and Chappell Roan to Julia Fox. Taking inspiration from film, theatre, art and history, Lewis’ avant-garde designs experiment with illusion dressing. In other words, he aims to exaggerate and warp the feminine silhouette à la corsetry often sprinkled with punk touches such as deadstock facial piercings and distressed materials.

At 25 years old, Lewis exudes the kind of confidence and clarity in his self-proclaimed world of “severe glamour” that is rare to come by. “I always try to focus on this idea of something beautiful but dark,” Lewis shares with Tatler. “And finding beauty in elements that people sometimes overlook because of their darker nature.”

Madonna in Samuel Lewis (Photo: courtesy of Samuel Lewis)

Julia Fox in Samuel Lewis (Photo: courtesy of Samuel Lewis)

The Mattress Gown by Samuel Lewis (Photo: courtesy of Samuel Lewis)

The Piercing Gown by Samuel Lewis (Photo: courtesy of Samuel Lewis)

The possibility of creating customs for celebrities and entertainers, however, had never crossed Lewis’ mind. Like many other fashion students, the rising talent imagined himself going down the traditional route: rising through the ranks of a design team at an established brand or fashion house. However, a chance encounter changed everything.

During university, Lewis was a freelance designer for the cult-coveted London-based label Mowalola. Recognising his talent, the brand’s founder Mowalola Ogunlesi introduced him to Nick Royal—one-half of Hardstyle, the styling duo (with Peri Rosenzweig) that boasts the patronage of cultural trailblazers like Gaga and Travis Scott. Royal would then go on to commission Lewis’ first custom garment for American experimental music artist Yves Tumor.

Lewis has embraced this out-of-the-blue opportunity with full gusto. “It’s been honestly very crazy,” the demi-couturier shared. “It wasn’t something I thought about before but I guess my style of work [fits] naturally in the world of performance and being worn in a public setting to garner attention.”

Lady Gaga in Samuel Lewis at the 67th Grammy Awards (Photo: Getty Images)

To our surprise, Lewis was not 100 per cent sure that Gaga would wear his now viral custom creation on the Grammy Awards 2025 red carpet.

Turns out, the gothic ensemble was originally part of a wider commission by Hardstyle for the artist’s Abracadabra music video. Breaking the internet that same night, the theatrical imagery put three of Lewis’ other designs in the spotlight: a subversive red latex cape embedded with nails, a slashed laced corset and decayed bustle skirt look as well as a distressed white corseted dress.

“We decided at the very last minute that [the gothic look] was for the Grammys,” Lewis said. “When I saw it happen, I was just in shock. The whole thing looked beautiful. I’m so happy to be part of Lady Gaga’s new era and I feel that it is a perfect symbiosis with my style.”

The demi-couture designer dove deeper into Gaga’s red carpet look. According to Lewis, the laced-up jacket subverts Victorian-era women’s mourning attire with its contemporary leather fabrication, whereas a scene from the film Orlando (1992) starring Tilda Swinton inspires the skirt. In this cinema adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel, the acclaimed actress runs in a maze garden donning a voluminous Victorian-style gown that looks pitch black on-screen despite its forest green hue in real life.

Behind-the-scenes look at Lady Gaga's Grammys 2025 look (Photo: courtesy of Samuel Lewis)

Behind-the-scenes look at Lady Gaga's Grammys 2025 look (Photo: courtesy of Samuel Lewis)

“I really like this idea of the body being completely swallowed by black fabric and having this very antique feel,” Lewis shares. “The ballgown skirt looks like she’s been wearing it for decades. It’s been ripped up causing some parts of her body to be exposed. Specifically for Gaga, a lot of the work we’ve been doing is based on this idea of clothing that is decaying and how time affects the clothes we wear.”

Today, Lewis splits his time between Australia, Taiwan and wherever his client commissions take him. Next on his agenda is to drop a collection for his namesake label later this year. For now, he teases that some of Gaga’s custom looks take direct inspiration from what he has in store. And when asked what other stars he’d love to design for, he answers promptly: Lucy Liu and Rihanna.

“At the start, I never thought this whole journey would ever happen for me,” Lewis reflected. “In time, I have built the confidence to understand that people respond to your work and creativity and that you can have a place in the room.”

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