Doja Cat Revealed She Was “Super Ill” When Stepping Out in Her Viral Red Crystal Look at Fashion Week

Doja Cat may have looked like a million bucks (quite literally) when she stepped out covered in 30,000 hand-applied red Swarovski crystals during Couture Week in Paris earlier this year, but she certainly didn’t feel it. 

In a new interview with L'Officeil, the singer revealed that she was actually sick the day she attended Schiaparelli’s Haute Couture runway show, which made for a very uncomfortable and long glam session. “I didn't realize till I sat down in the chair that I had gastroenteritis,” she told the magazine. “So I had gotten super ill. I'm sitting there, and I feel the twirling of a knife.”

She continued, “I was trying to joke around and make light of the situation, but as time progressed, it only got worse. My stomach felt like there was a blade in it, and it was just spinning 100 miles per hour. I never felt pain worse than that — and on one of the most important days of my life! So it was full of emotions and just crazy feelings."

Doja noted that in light of being in immense pain, her glam squad “was so sweet” and “understanding and so sensitive and kind.” 

Doja’s viral beauty look — courtesy of makeup artist Pat McGrath and her team — took nearly five hours to complete. The process began with covering the singer’s hair in a cap and then painting her skin red, before applying the crystals and gold dust.  

"I was sitting down, and I had underwear and a bandeau on," Doja explained. "They started with a layer of red paint, and they just covered me in that and then a layer of glue, and then I think they dusted glitter on top. Then the crystals. And I would have one, two, three, four people on my body as this was happening, just all around me, working on different sections of my body."

Despite being sick, Doja said the ordeal was worth it in the end, adding: "I’m very, very proud of it.”