Julia Fox’s Fashion Icons—From Lady Gaga to Doja Cat—Will Surprise You

Julia Fox dresses with intention. In early April, the former Uncut Gems star, musician, author, and burgeoning entrepreneur made headlines for wearing a hairy boob outfit styled with panties featuring a sewn-up vagina colored with the words “closed,” commentary on her lack of interest in dating—a topic she’s addressed nauseam. 

Fox approaches fashion as a performance artist, as she told InStyle in a revealing profile timed to the forthcoming release of her E! competition series OMG Fashun, in which she executive produces and co-hosts alongside Zendaya’s go-to stylist, Law Roach. 

So where does her fashion education come from? “I was really lucky because I was able to grow up in New York City, where I saw, firsthand, where trends are born before they make it on the magazines, on the runways, and then Europe. I was able to be at the epicenter of it,” she says. “From a very early age, I had very good instincts. I’d be like, Oh, is this going to really take off? Then it would.”

For Fox, fashion isn’t just about looking and feeling good—it’s about sharing a message.

“You could go to Walmart and pick up a bunch of things and sew them together and actually make it real fashion. Fashion needs to be art, first and foremost. Then, it also needs to tell a story,” Fox says. “When we’re young and we want to send out signals to the world of who we are without being like, This is who I am and this is what I’m into, we wear those indicators on our clothing. It’s how we are able to identify ourselves to like-minded people.”

She adds, “That’s why the majority of people don’t like my outfits, but then [there are the] people that do love them, because they feel seen in them too, and they’re from that same tribe.”

As for who inspires Fox’s sense of style? The list is wide-ranging. “I love the way Doja Cat dresses now—her rebrand was amazing. But in terms of the icons I looked at growing up, definitely, Courtney Love was a big one; Madonna was a big one. Lady Gaga—at the time, I don’t think I liked it that much. But now, looking back, I love it.”

She continues, “That’s interesting, too, how maybe sometimes you just weren’t ready for something. [People] were like, It’s too much, it’s too theatrical, it’s too, whatever. Then I had to unpack in myself what it was that was making me not see the magnitude of the moment. Looking back, I’m like, sometimes I’ll wear an outfit, then I’ll see Lady Gaga did it first, and I’ll be like, Oh my God, she already wore this, and I didn’t even know because I missed that moment. I love it. I love her. I feel like I’m getting to love her all over again, or rediscovering her as this new version of myself.” 

On the topic of Lady Gaga, Fox has thoughts—particularly on parallels between their aesthetic. “Babe, I swear to God, they’re unintentional. She knew what the fuck was up,” Fox says. “I’ll be like, I want to do prosthetics like this, blah, blah. Then I’ll be like, Oh, my God. She did it already. 20 years ago, 10 years ago.”

Julia Fox in the same sentence as Lady Gaga? That checks out. 

E!’s OMG Fashun premieres Monday, May 6th at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT with two back-to-back half-hour episodes. Weekly episodes will then air at 9:00 p.m. ET and 9:30 p.m. PT.