Paramore’s Hayley Williams Is In the Business of Changing

One consistent thing, Williams tells me over the phone, is the presence of her dog, Alf, (named after the titular character of the ’80s sitcom Alf: “He’s a morale boost for everyone”), and Brian O’Connor, her longtime hair and makeup artist, and cofounder of their shared venture, Good Dye Young, a hair dye company they launched in 2016. When she calls me to talk about the concert, she’s back in her glam chair with O’Connor prepping for an event at Ulta, where the product is launching in stores. “I can’t believe we’re in Ulta,” says the Grammy Award–winning artist. “It’s sort of a fever dream because we’ve talked about it for so long.”

To commemorate Paramore’s return to the storied venue, Williams, O’Connor, and her stylist, Lindsey Hartman, collaborated on creating a ’60s-inspired look that evoked the likes of French New Wave actors and English supermodels rather than pop-punk icons. 

“Hayley Williams is not on Pinterest,” Williams jokes about finding inspiration. “But several fake names that I’ve come up with have so many Pinterest accounts because I forget my password.”

For Tuesday night’s show, Williams commanded the stage in an ultramini netted Stella McCartney dress atop a custom metallic bra top and hot pants, paired with matching silver Mary Jane shoes by Le Monde Béryl, (“I saw a couple of fans like, What the fuck are these? But you know what? They are very sensible and easy to kick around and do my little two-step in,” says Williams). Her signature shaggy bangs and sleek Twiggy-esque eyeliner completed the look. In all her sparkling minidress glory, Williams, centerstage, answers the question of, What if the muses of the ’60s were heard and not just seen? “Jane Birkin is one of the few muses we’ve had for this album cycle. It’s also very Jane Asher, a little bit of Mary Quant. A lot of leg and really short skirts,” says Williams. “Almost as a reflection back to the ’60s and women protesting. I feel like we’re in such a moment culturally and politically that is reflective of those times in the worst of ways. It feels regressive and terrifying. I’m not doing it in the most overt way, but I think trying to inject a little bit of awareness into the choices that we’re making fashionwise and beautywise is important.”