When MTV’s Total Request Live signed off from its original run, Tyla was barely six years old. And yet, the singer has an uncanny ability to dress like she’s moments away from stepping into Times Square Studios, bracing herself for Carson Daly and a wall of screaming fans. It may be 2025, but Tyla continues to look like the hottest pop star of 2005 — and that’s very much a compliment.
For a recent beachfront photoshoot, the South African star slipped into an archival DSquared2 mini dress that could only belong to the Y2K era. The micro-mini silhouette alone gave it away, but the details sealed the deal. Cut from a dark purple stretch fabric, the dress was decorated with strips of contrasting colour: flashes of neon green, hits of electric orange, and warm yellow accents that traced the bust and hemline. Styled by Ron Hartleben, Tyla completed the look with bold lavender makeup concentrated on the lower half of her face — daring, playful, and entirely on brand.
This isn’t a one-off moment. Tyla has quietly established herself as one of fashion’s most exciting vintage devotees. Her wardrobe, whether off-duty or on the red carpet, is packed with archive favourites from Tom Ford’s Gucci, John Galliano-era Dior, and Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel. It was the latter that dominated her recent visual for Chanel, where she cycled through some of the house’s most iconic moments — from the hip-hop collection to the infamous hula-hoop bag.
“I wanted to find the craziest things for her to wear, and pay homage to those key moments and amalgamate them into one modern thing that made sense for Tyla,” Hartleben shared. The result? A nostalgic yet forward-looking fashion narrative that feels authentic rather than costume-like.
While her latest archive pull isn’t Chanel, it still reinforces one thing: when it comes to vintage fashion, Tyla is operating in a league of her own. So be honest — can we retroactively give her the number one spot on the TRL countdown?
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