‘People Are Mad at Their Exes’: Lily Allen on the Healing Powers of Her West End Girl Tour

The pop singer worked with her close friend Anna Fleische on cultivating the retro, West End-inspired setting of the show, as well as the flow of her set list. (Come for her single “West End Girl,” stay for “Madeline” and “Pussy Palace.”) “I’ve done two West End plays and a play in Bath last summer, all of which the set design was executed by Anna,” says Allen. “We were rehearsing Hedda in Bath when I asked her to have a think about how I could bring this album to life in a theatrical way. I think what she has done is nothing short of genius.”

Equally as genius? The glamorous fashion that Allen wears on stage through it all, brought to life by the legendary stylist Mel Ottenberg, who has worked with Rihanna, among others, and is the current editor-in-chief of Interview. “I asked Mel if he would come out of retirement to do this tour with me, and to my delight, he said yes,” says Allen. “Mel’s idea was for me to go on a journey: I start very put together, but it all becomes undone in line with the record—and we piece me back together again.”

For Ottenberg, the tour wardrobe was about cultivating a fashion mood that echoed the themes of pain and heartbreak in the show. The aim was storytelling, through clothes. “Getting to help Lily tell her brutal story of heartbreak and loss with styling, and making her feel hot doing so, was a challenge I was up for,” he says. “I wanted to start with something really fun and pastel—almost manic in its happiness, and then quickly move right into something raw, naked, and vulnerable as her life falls apart.”

For her first look, for instance, Allen emerges wearing a custom Valentino suit, sheer slip, and platform heels, with lingerie by Araks. He wanted her to look and feel exposed. “There’s a scene in Belle De Jour where Catherine Deneuve is spaced out and takes off a dress, takes off a slip, and puts on a robe very quickly, and that was the vibe I wanted to get across,” says Ottenberg. “I was also watching lots of early 1930s movies on Criterion, which there are many notes of in the way the lingerie moves and flows onstage.”

Photo: Christina Bryson

As the show progresses, Allen then transitions into pieces like custom Self-Portrait bodysuits and a powerful leather 16Arlington column dress. “When she’s avenging herself, I was going for a sixties power vibe,” says Ottenberg. “She moves into a very different type of power, with a leather column she wears at the end with exaggerated bust and hips.” You can expect to see all of this impactful looks on the next leg of her tour. ”For this theater leg of the tour, we’re sticking with the same pieces and silhouettes, but maybe getting in some different colorways,” says Allen.

Allen will be taking the show on the road through November, but through it, the pop star says she has been enjoying finding solace in her down-time. (It’s a lot to pour your heart out on stage, day after day.) “I’ve been going to lots of museums,” says Allen. “I’m big into art shows at the moment, and vintage T-shirt shopping.” It’s also Allen’s first time embarking on a major tour while sober, and she adds that the run has felt entirely different this time around. “I will be eight years sober in July. There were hesitations, but I have a great team of people,” says Allen. “I have a sober companion to help with the adrenaline highs and lows. I try to get to meetings and eat as well as I can early in the day.”

It helps that she has had her family with her during the latest North American leg. “My daughters are joining with friends, and I have two cousins and a stepdad with me,” says Allen. “That’s been an extra element of fun. We have a whole family bus—it’s like a National Lampoons Theater Tour.”

Below, see exclusive photos from Allen’s April 3 show in Chicago.