Tyla might be in a tight spot. During her Friday night performance at Coachella 2025, the South African pop sensation drew parallels to Britney Spears by adopting a look that seemed to echo the "Toxic" singer's iconic outfit from the MTV VMAs in 2001—or so her fans presumed. The 23-year-old donned a verdant vintage balconette bra from Dolce & Gabbana's spring 2001 collection, pairing it with denim shorts adorned with beaded fringes and silver safety pins. The striking resemblance to Spears' ensemble for her "I'm a Slave 4 U" performance, a quarter-century ago, was uncanny. Spears had famously worn a pink, jewel-embellished, cut-out green bra with low-rise jeans shorts featuring a butterfly motif and scarves wrapped around her waist, designed by Kurt and Bart, and accessorized with a yellow Burmese python for that legendary act.
However, on Sunday, Tyla clarified her stance on X (formerly Twitter), denying that her Coachella attire was a nod to Spears. "Love her, but I just thought the outfit was fly…no inspo," she penned. The comment section ignited like wildfire, with numerous followers refusing to accept it as mere happenstance.
"Do you not understand what inspo entails?" one inquired. Another hurled accusations, "Girl, you're a fraud; get out of here!" A third exclaimed, "Um, it's virtually identical, though??" One commented, "Your stylist was probably inspired, but you thought the outfit was cute," while another opined, "Maybe not you, but SOMEONE was inspired!!"
This isn't the first instance where Tyla has paid homage to an iconic pop star through a vintage high-fashion look. Last November, at the MTV EMAs 2024 in Manchester London, the "Truth or Dare" hitmaker wore a blue variant of a 2000 Roberto Cavalli tiger-printed gown that Aaliyah famously wore to the MTV VMAs in the same year it debuted on the runway.
