With AGRO Studio behind some of KATSEYE’s most recent festival looks, we speak to the designers about building a wardrobe that balances individual personalities, pop references and the demands of performing on the world’s biggest stages.

Festival dressing has become one of the biggest spaces for artists to experiment with fashion, and KATSEYE are certainly the type to do so. The stage allows performers to push their wardrobes further, playing with exaggerated silhouettes, movement and with their teams, create instantly recognisable looks that can become part of one’s public identity. Think Beyoncé’s iconic Coachella wardrobe, Madonna’s boundary-pushing MTV looks or the countless performance outfits that have gone on to become part of pop culture history.

London’s AGRO Studio has become particularly good at creating clothes that feel theatrical without losing their sense of fashion and wearability, making the label a natural fit for performance dressing.

For KATSEYE’s second weekend at Coachella and more recently Head in the Clouds festival, the designers brought that approach to the group’s wardrobe, creating a series of custom looks that balanced their individual personalities with one cohesive visual world. Drawing on everything from pop icons and Vivienne Westwood to Mad Hatter’s tea parties, the looks were designed to move with the group while still making an impact and shaping their look. 

We spoke to AGRO Studio designers George Oxby and Angus Cockram on working with KATSEYE again, building their Coachella wardrobe and what makes a great pop costume in 2026.

How did the collaboration with KATSEYE first come about?

Our first time working with KATSEYE was for the second weekend of Coachella. The collaboration came through their stylist, Katie Qian, and it immediately felt very symbiotic. It was an exciting opportunity to bring the AGRO language into the girls’ world, particularly our approach to silhouette, construction, and movement. Katie has such a clear vision for the girls, while giving us the freedom to push the clothes and make them feel distinctly AGRO. It has always felt like a genuine creative exchange.

KATSEYE has such distinct personalities within the group. How did you make sure each custom look reflected the individual girls while still feeling cohesive as a group?

We often begin sketching with individual girls in mind, thinking about their energy, proportions, and the way they perform. At the same time, we never want those initial assignments to become too rigid. During fittings, one of the girls might feel a much stronger connection to a different look, so pieces can move between them and continue evolving right up until the show.

Images courtesy of Agro Studio

What were the biggest references behind the custom looks? What was the brief for the looks like?

We were feeding from Katie’s mood board, the girls’ own inspirations and instincts, and whatever was occupying our creative zeitgeist at that moment. The music is also incredibly important to us. We listen to it constantly while drawing so that we can properly enter the world of the group and understand the energy the clothes need to carry.

For sure, there was a Mad Hatter’s tea party element, mixed with the iconic language of pop girls like Britney Spears and crossed with references closer to home, particularly Vivienne Westwood and Christian Lacroix.

The brief was less about creating matching costumes and more about building one coherent visual world in which every girl could still feel recognisably herself.

How important was movement when designing these pieces?

Movement and performability are woven into the fabric of the garments, quite literally. They influence the fabrics we choose, the internal structures, the cuts, the lengths and the way every piece is secured.

Decoration also becomes a way of amplifying the choreography. Small bustles, suspended skirts and hanging or trailing elements can extend a movement and make it register across a huge stage. The clothes need to feel visually transformative, but they also have to allow the girls to perform with complete confidence.

What do you think makes a great pop group costume in 2026?

There are a few different tests for us. One is whether somebody could dress as the artist for Halloween and be instantly recognisable. Does the clothing help establish a visual identity that belongs specifically to them?

It also has to feel relevant across generations, to the fan base and, most importantly, to the music. A great pop costume should not simply respond to a trend. It should create an image that feels inseparable from the performer, something that works in motion, communicates from a distance and stays in your memory after the show has ended.