Shakira Has a Full-Circle Fashion Moment at the 2026 World Cup Halftime Show
PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/Getty Images
PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/Getty Images
There is no 2026 World Cup halftime show without Shakira.
Today, at the final face-off between Spain and Argentina, Shakira took the stage (along with Madonna, Justin Bieber, and BTS) at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for the World Cup’s inaugural halftime performance.
“The World Cup has been part of my journey for a long time, so being invited to perform at the first-ever halftime show feels incredibly meaningful,” Shakira tells Vogue. And while “Waka Waka,” may be something of a World Cup anthem, this time around, she’s taking to the stage with her song “Dai Dai,” the proceeds of which go to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. “To get up and perform this song on the world’s biggest stage is going to be electric,” she adds.
For her history-making performance, Shakira turned to her longtime friend, Fausto Puglisi, for a custom Roberto Cavalli look. “We talked a lot about the feeling we wanted to create rather than just the clothes themselves,” Shakira says. “He understands how I move, how I perform, and how important it is for me to feel comfortable and confident on stage.” Puglisi, for his part, is no stranger to dressing pop stars. “I was born for that,” he says of fashioning Shakira’s look for this monumental moment.
For her 2026 World Cup look, Shakira knew she needed something that celebrated both her artistry and the global stage. “I wanted the look to feel strong, joyful, and celebratory—something that reflected the energy of the performance but also honored the significance of the occasion,” she says. “This is such a global event, so I wanted to wear something that felt timeless but also modern, with movement and personality.”
She was also adamant about the color palette. “She was in the beautiful mood of the orange sunset,” Puglisi says. “This was her suggestion. Orange sunset and pink—bright pink.” So, Puglisi harkened back to his world travels. “For Shakira, I thought about one of my favorite cities, Mexico City,” he says. “It was the neighborhood La Condesa. There is a beautiful mix of colors of the original buildings.”
Puglisi was especially taken with a pink home with an orange door and yellow window frames. He took this sunset color palette and applied it to a silhouette from his resort 2025 collection: a plunging, criss-crossing neckline with a lace-up detail, side cutouts, and a dynamic skirt made of strips of fabrics, which he refers to as his “tagliatelle.” The look was further glamorized with over 200,000 Swarovski crystals, which were applied by hand over the course of 120 hours.
Shakira also wanted the look to call back to her 2010 World Cup closing ceremony performance of “Waka Waka,” where she wore a neon look by Cavalli himself. “It [was] kind of natural and organic to end the World Cup in this way,” Puglisi says. Shakira adds, “It’s a full circle moment—the colors are similar too,” she says. “We are paying tribute to the past and looking toward the future.”
This article was originally published on Vogue.com.