Charli XCX Turns One Night Into Two: From Lorde’s Stage to the Academy Museum Gala in True Pop-Cinematic Style

On a whirlwind Saturday night in Los Angeles, the pop provocateur managed to straddle two very different worlds: the glimmering elegance of the 2025 Academy Museum Gala and the electric chaos of Lorde’s Inglewood concert at The Kia Forum.

It was the kind of night that only someone as chaotically chic as Charli could pull off movie-star glam colliding with underground pop energy.

From Forum to Film: Charli’s High-Speed Fashion Marathon

“I was kind of just ping-ponging between The Forum and the gala. It was a bit hectic,” Charli laughs, recalling the surreal night. The soundtrack to her backstage transformation? The Brian Jonestown Massacre, naturally a band as unpredictable and genre-defying as Charli herself.

Earlier that evening, before stepping into her surprise “Girl, so confusing” duet with Lorde, Charli appeared at the Academy Museum Gala wearing a custom Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello look that can only be described as cinematic rebellion: a sheer lace top paired with a sculptural, drop-waist leather ball skirt.

“It’s based on one of the silhouettes from Saint Laurent’s Fall 2025 collection,” Charli tells Vogue. “My stylist, Chris Horan, and I knew we wanted something with that dramatic, structured shape but when we decided to make it in leather, it just clicked. It felt unexpected, a little dangerous. I completely love it.”

And that’s the Charli effect, a constant flirtation between glamour and grit.

Pop Star, Cinephile, and the Next A24 Darling

Lately, Charli’s been adding new layers to her artistic résumé. After her appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival for the premiere of Erupcha, she’s now setting her sights firmly on film. Her next project, A24’s “The Moment”, stars Alexander Skarsgård and blurs the line between her reality and mythology, a fictionalized take on Brat Summer, the cultural phenomenon she ignited.

If you follow her on Letterboxd, you already know she’s a passionate cinephile with surprisingly niche taste.

Her latest obsessions? Jim Jarmusch’s Permanent Vacation and the yet-to-be-released Marty Supreme. “I will say, Marty Supreme is the best film I’ve seen recently, hands down,” Charli says. “It blew me away. It’s a film with so much passion. I was completely knocked out by it.”

The Pop Star Who Thinks in Film

The Academy Museum Gala has become Hollywood’s most glamorous intersection of fashion, film, and cultural cool and Charli’s appearance felt symbolic. She’s no longer just a pop star. She’s morphing into something broader, stranger, and more cinematic.

Her night part concert chaos, part red-carpet reverie mirrored her entire career arc: a constant movement between the experimental and the iconic.

As she zipped across Los Angeles from flashing lights at The Forum to the golden halls of the Academy Museum Charli XCX wasn’t just attending events. She was shapeshifting, rewriting what it means to be a modern pop artist in real time.

And as she proved once again, there’s nothing confusing about being that girl, only thrilling.