Dua Lipa’s taste in books is rivaled only by her penchants for some very fabulous fashions. The singer has long made her literary tastes known through her successful Service95 Book Club, but this weekend, she took her love of the written word to the stage, curating a series of conversations for London’s Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre. Her wardrobe was just as carefully considered as her reading list.
On Saturday, Lipa played host to two literary heavyweights at the Royal Festival Hall: acclaimed novelist Zadie Smith, with whom she discussed White Teeth, Smith’s landmark 2000 debut, and Sudanese Canadian poet and musician Mustafa, whose 2025 poetry collection Nour explores love, grief, faith, and devotion. Two very different and expansive conversations, which required two different outfits.
For her time with Smith, Lipa continued her allegiance to Chanel for just about every occasion. This time, she opted for a tomato-red knitted dress from the fall 2026 collection, which features a dropped waist and fluffy embellishments at the elbows and hips. Lipa forwent the softer runway styling, and toughened up the ladylike silhouette with a pair of towering, lace-up black leather knee-high boots by Le Silla. Her dark hair was slicked back, and she accessorized with sculptural red earrings. Smith looked just as chic, choosing a draped black sleeveless top affixed with a brooch at the collar, oat-colored corduroy pants, and patent black heels.
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