“Statuesque, free and empowered” is how Australian stylist Alex Zabotto-Bentley sees Ira Losco – and how, having designed the dress for her Eurovision performance, he is hoping the rest of Europe will see her as she takes the stage for the Grand Final.

“I know everyone in Malta loves Ira and has known her for a long time,” he told the Times of Malta of the thought behind the outfit. “She’s this phenomenal woman that people look up to and we really wanted to specifically focus on her being this beautiful, gorgeous woman, rather than having something super-short or cleavage-heavy.”

Having worked with Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue and Prince, among others, in the past, Zabotto-Bentley was no stranger to designing for high-profile events. This time, however, he had one more challenge to contend with.

“We had ‘secret information’, that Ira was pregnant, which she revealed to the world shortly after,” he said. “So I wanted to design something that made her feel amazing and celebrate her form, but also be the next level.”

Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

In the end, Losco’s on-stage appearance went through a number of changes from the day she arrived in Stockholm, as the team ditched the high-tech projection coat she wore for the first rehearsal in favour of the final design. Zabotto-Bentley, however, insisted this was all part of the process.

“Having worked on a number of international stage productions in the past, I knew it was necessary to have different options. We tried some very technical garments, then we tried something shorter,” he said. “The card up our sleeve was this 6,000 crystal, hand-beaded incredible dress custom-made for her by my team in Australia. We wanted to trial everything else first and end with that. I am now wildly happy with the final result.”

Zabotto-Bentley also had only good words about his experience working with Losco and the rest of the team on his first Eurovision experience.
“I feel like I’m an honourary Maltese person… I’m the pastizzi king of Sydney now,” he joked. “I’m over-joyed that it’s worked so beautifully, and testament to that is how wonderfully she’s performing on stage.”