“I’m in Vegas, and I’m Loud”: Usher Breaks Down His Caesars Palace Looks

When Usher started pulling wardrobe references for his 20-date Las Vegas residency at Caesars Palace last year, his mood board was a mix of sequins, vibrant shades, and Whitney Houston in “Queen of the Night.” Basically, anything that glittered was up for grabs. “I wanted to try things I’d never done because Vegas is a place where people come to see whimsical shows like Cirque du Soleil,” he says. “I was very adamant about being as bold as possible.”

The 43-year-old started out as a teen heartthrob dancing in chrome ensembles, so the Vegas glitz came naturally. Night after night, audiences saw Usher skate through—as in, literally dancing in roller skates—a catalog of vintage slow jams, EDM hits, and confessional R&B wearing costumes mostly designed by Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing, including a galactic sapphire number and a pink flare-leg suit seemingly blessed by the spirit of James Brown. Extravagance was the vision.

“When you think of the ’60s and ’70s—the Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire, and those bright-ass fucking outfits—people look at that and frown their nose up, like, ‘That was then,’” Usher says. “No, it still matters to spend that time on your wardrobe and make sure there’s excitement to seeing you on stage. There’s something about that glove from Michael Jackson, those glittery socks. It wasn’t just the way he was dancing. It was also the way he looked and the way it made you feel.”

This summer, Usher returns for a second residency at Park MGM, with a whole new experience and more classic attire. Speaking over the phone from his home in Los Angeles, he reflected on the original Vegas run that gave us some of the most ostentatious Usher looks of all time.

Usher: “What you’re looking at is an art exhibit created by myself and Scott Campbell. He works with American currency and does these almost sculpture-like figures. The walls were covered with Ush bucks, and Ush bucks on the floor. This was called the “count room.”

The show is not just a traditional concert. This was a one-time immersive theatrical experience that happened 35 minutes before my actual show. It’s kind of a dream state where I take you from this Parisian club and then a New York scene at the creation of hip-hop. And then I take you to a nightclub in Atlanta called Ush City, inspired by Magic City. At the beginning of the show, the entire cast comes from underneath the stage, and now you’re in this world we created. We had about 50 people on stage, and we established who the characters are at the top of the show.

There was something about this that was incredibly European and fashion-forward. I don’t know why. I added these high boots—these are Vetements—because I just thought it was a really cool look. It was a bold statement to wear those like that. This is before Kanye was walking in them joints. [Laughs]”

“This is the opening scene of the entire show. A huge silhouette shows up on a red velvet curtain, and I’m standing at the back of the house. There’s this montage about what Vegas has meant to me. Then kaboom. I walk through the middle of the audience onto the stage. The curtain opens, and you see the club in full swing. You see people dancing, drinking, smoking, and having a good time. This is the first time you see the scale. It almost feels like a scene from The Wiz. And then the show starts with ‘She Came to Give It to You’ and ‘Caught Up’ into ‘U Don’t Have to Call.’ That’s a full studded outfit, all sapphire stones: the pants, the shirt, the jacket. I don’t even know how I made it through the first set, it was so damn heavy. That thing shined like none other. It feels very glamorous.”

“This was a very theatrical, classic moment. The skating was today’s skate culture but inspired by Gene Kelly, an amazing, athletic singer who was able to sing and dance and tap on skates. The pants are leather. The jacket isn’t leather, but it was very, very gaudy.

This felt like an incredible nightclub look, like you’re the hottest dude in the fucking club with this shit on. What you can’t see is that all of those pieces are studded. That jacket is super heavy with light material, but it’s all metal, leather, and the shape of it was very eighties. The wardrobe was about being flexible. The silhouettes had to accommodate me being able to move, dance, and sweat, so that I didn’t wear them out before the end of the residency.

You got all these colorful dancers in Savage x Fenty, and it feels like a nightclub. You got Ush bucks being thrown— with Bitcoin, it’s like shit, why not create your own currency?”

“This is the third look when the show becomes more EDM-centric and futuristic. It originally came with sleeves—we took the sleeves off. I felt like I was going to cut myself because the entire jacket is made of fragmented mirror pieces so that when the light hits it, I shine like a mirror ball. Around this time, we’re performing “OMG,” “Scream,” “DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love.” The female dancers had these blonde wigs and accessories that lit up. It felt like Atlanta in 2083. Like Captain EO.

I reached out to Olivier, and we had conversations about Prince, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and the fact that they were timeless in their live wardrobes, and it felt heroic. I sent him this photo of Whitney Houston in her “Queen of the Night” look and Michael in things that were very glittery. It was a matter of me thinking: if Michael has been a king, and Prince has been a king, and Whitney Houston has been a queen, where does Usher exist in that conversation?”

“This one was a statement that was just like: I’m in Vegas, and I’m loud. The contrast is kind of taken down in the photo. It was even brighter. That thing was literally neon pink. Not salmon. Neon pink.

The 333 cumberbund is a symbolic number that represents making good choices in relationships. I don’t know if you’re into numerology. I’m not. But those numbers have always shown up for me. They call them the angel numbers. I ended up finding out that Prince’s club in Minneapolis, the address was 333. I was like, damn, I didn’t plan that.

I could do a split and never rip these pants. I could sweat like crazy, and you would never see it. It was a flexible fabric, but it wasn’t shiny. At this point in the show, we ascended to another planet. We’re out in space, and it looks as though I’m this pink thing in orbit floating amongst the stars.”

“Every artist has iconic silhouettes. The motorcycle jacket silhouette was very iconic for me. We wanted this outfit to feel like a throwback but utilize colors and shapes to make you think of Atlanta. That logo. Obviously, my U chain. This was made by Brea Stinson, a designer I work with who does these jackets, specifically.

This was the moment that I came out on stage skating. Sometimes, I would [skate] out in Balmain, but for the final shows, I wore this jacket every night. You see the So So Def logo on it. You see Magic City’s logo on my elbow, the ATL hat, and the logo on my left shoulder. On the back, it says Home of the Brave. All of these things are very Atlanta, and this gave you late-’90s, early-2000s. This felt like a one-of-one Usher jacket, paying tribute to that ensemble of mine.”

“These leather pants are based on a classic Levi’s silhouette, and Chrome Hearts added all of the silver hardware. Those are Chrome Heart crosses embellished on the pants. I designed this with them. We recreated these pants from an MTV Awards performance.

This is like ‘Nice and Slow,’ ‘Burn,’ ‘U Got It Bad,’ ‘Climax.’ It was a throwback moment, a heated moment for the audience. This is the less-dancing part of the show when it gets very sensual. Less is more here.”

“I decided to do this piece because it was a statement about Atlanta, hip-hop, R&B. Everything about the show is our culture. The culture of the South and what Atlanta has offered to the world as a lifestyle. Atlanta dresses differently than anybody else. How we put shit together, how we feel about what we have on, and how we influence culture—I’m in the middle of that.

Me and Kerby Jean-Raymond created this look, a double-breasted all-leather suit. The art is the OutKast album cover for Stankonia. There were all of these restrictions that made it hard to produce at the time. So we ended up designing outfits and then having my tailors perfect those if we couldn’t get certain materials—specifically me and Kerby with Pyer Moss. This was Atlanta coming to Las Vegas.”

“This right here was a night out, man. You see that Chrome Hearts drip on my hands, on my neck. Glasses out. I think I’m the only dude wearing shades in the club. And thank God I had Savage x Fenty to dress the ladies because her lingerie played an incredible role in the overall fashion story.

We’re inside Ush City, and this is a double-breasted all-leather Mike Amiri suit with a studded mesh tank top by Ami. Mike Amiri does a really good job of taking classic suit silhouettes. There’s a boot cut to it that helps the shoe look really, really cool.

Now, I want you to know this is all retro. We’re getting ready to do another show at an entirely different venue, and it’s an entirely different experience. This new world is a little bit of the Harlem Renaissance. It’s a little bit of New Orleans, early Atlanta. My plan is to be more suited. Of course, I’m gonna, you know, embellish and accentuate certain things because it is for the stage. But I’m thinking a little bit more classic. I’m not sure how gaudy this one is going to be.”