Pop, at her most delicious, is a private language disguised as a public act—a flashing, winking dialect for those in the know. Kim Petras speaks it fluently. The Cologne-born, Grammy-winning princess of excess has built her kingdom on the giddy pleasure of inclusion: the subcultural thrill of being in on it. To watch her move through the world is to catch a whisper of the glossy cabal she’s always building—one where Louis Vuitton lace and a Frappuccino can coexist without irony, and where every look is a secret shared between girls who get it.

Following the sugar-rush singles “Polo” and “Freak It,” “I Like Ur Look” marks a return to form and a rebellion in the same breath: a self-assured detour into nostalgia-glazed chaos. Co-produced by Nightfeelings, Margo XS, Frost Children, and Petras herself, the track blends early-2000s pop-punk attitude with an EDM-fueled heartbeat—playful, seductive, and irreverently chic. It’s the sonic equivalent of a bedazzled flip phone: sparkly, emotional, a little bit cursed, and completely irresistible.

But the real seduction lies in the video. For this era, Petras eschewed the stylist industrial complex altogether, choosing instead to play the role herself: archivist, curator, protagonist. Paris became her playground; The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective her battlegrounds. The result is a devotional collage of everything she once longed for—Louis Vuitton lace, Miu Miu sandals, D&G satin—each piece a relic from her teenage daydreams spent thumbing through Vogue in provincial Germany. It’s vintage not as trend, but as absolution: a reclamation of the fantasies that first taught her to want.

Petras doesn’t peddle the myth of effortlessness; she dismantles it. The world of “I Like Ur Look” is one of glossy overcompensation, of aspirational artifice so earnest it becomes profound. In an era allergic to pretense, Kim dares to shimmer—to perform sincerity through excess, to make pop maximalism feel intimate again.

This new chapter is her most precise yet: self-styled, self-produced, self-mythologized. A sharp turn into the unknown, perhaps, but one navigated with high-shine composure and a touch of wicked delight. Because in Kim’s world, to be in—to get the reference—is to revel in the glamour of knowing exactly how much it takes to sparkle.

See below for FLAUNT’s conversation with the formidable Kim Petras on self-styling the “I Like Ur Look” video, chasing the romance of early-aughts fashion, and learning to love the art of trying—really, really trying.

You styled the whole video yourself—no stylist, no team, just you in Paris hunting for vintage. What did that process look like? Were you moodboarding, or just trusting impulse?

Most purchases were made on TheRealReal and Vestiaire Collective. I remember running home from school as a kid to see the new Louis Vuitton show, it was really a fairy tale and a window into a world that I didn’t have access to as a country bumpkin in Germany. I dreamt of doing a video where I reference my favorite looks from my favorite Louis Vuitton shows, so it’s been a month of hunting down these items with my friends. I am super proud.

The Louis Vuitton SS07 dress, the D&G satin skirt, the Miu Miu sandals… it’s all very girl who knows her archives. Do you collect vintage like that, or was this your first full deep dive?‍

I do collect vintage. Ever since I had my first taste of getting to buy clothes I really like, I’ve just been buying all the things I loved as a teen or a twenty-year-old. I’ve just been retroactively collecting the items I was dreaming about having when I was going to school or doing my first music videos. Going back and having my redemption arc where I get to actually pull these clothes from my own closet is really fulfilling and full circle for me. I am really proud of my collection and really guard my items. Thankfully I have many friends who know the archives.‍

The Louis Vuitton SS07 pieces are such a specific pull—Feerique Morganne sandals, Dentelle purse, that dress. What about that era of Vuitton spoke to you right now?‍

It’s very romantic. I remember Scarlett Johansson was in that ad. That was around the time where I would save up my pocket money in Germany to buy German Vogue. The pages were so glossy, and I even remember the smell of a new Vogue magazine — it’s engrained into my brain. I collected Vogue magazines as a teenager. Recreating those ads and centerfolds from that time is really magical to me and I think it goes with the nostalgic feeling of the sounds of I Like Ur Look. We were digging really deeply into capsule and perfume and K-Pop artists from that time. Just really music that makes me and Frost Children and Margo feel nostalgic. It is really to emphasize the sound with the aesthetic of the romantic, glossy, 2000s ad campaigns that I really miss. Things feel so casual now, things don’t feel as clean. I am chasing the romance of that collection. ‍

You’ve always had such a clear visual world. Has your relationship to fashion changed now that you’re taking styling into your own hands?‍

It has changed a lot. I have been really lucky to learn from so many amazing stylists. I’ve really learned that most stylists all go to the same places to pull from the same archives, which I feel like is why pop stars end up wearing the same things. I am always really vigilant about not wearing the same thing as someone else, I really want to cultivate my own world. The only way for me to really clearly explain my vision is to go and get things myself. I have learned a lot from amazing stylists about how to pull the right clothes to pop in a music video or an album cover. The difference between photos and video and movement. It has definitely changed. When I was first able to go to a designer store and buy something new, that was so exciting and I had always wanted that my whole life. The more niche I go with the things that I like and remember, the less risk I have in wearing the same thing as someone else. ‍

Do you remember the first piece you ever bought that made you feel fashion-y—like, okay, this is who I am?‍

I remember buying a Louis Vuitton plushest when I was younger. That was really my prized possession. I’m huge on purses and huge on shoes. It doesn’t even have to be designer. When I was 12 or 13 I would go to scene stores and buy like bows with skulls on them and be like ok this is me. I think it's good to experiment with your style.

‍Only a Kim Petras music video would be the place where a frappuccino, a Geek Bar, and Vuitton all meet—luxury chaos. Are those props, or extensions of your personal mythology? What does it mean to be effortless?‍

The song and the video struggle with effortlessness. I struggle with effortlessness. I don’t think anything I’ve ever done was anything that was effortless, I think everything I’ve ever done has been try-hard. That’s just who I am. I’ve always overthought and overplanned everything I did. I’m also a Virgo, but there is something so aspirational to people that are so effortless to me that I feel like I can never achieve. Now that I’ve met a lot of people who I perceived to be effortless, that’s often put on. There’s a lot of questions of “how can I be effortless?” or “is being effortless a betrayal to myself?” because I just am now.

I think those items describe me well. I think about my branding a lot and I think a lot of cringe millennial things like having a Frappuccino obsession or vaping and all of that make a lot of sense in my universe and make my character so vivid and I can understand me a lot more. Those things are pop culture indicators of being of a certain personality. I have not answered to myself if I can be effortless, but I continue my obsession with effortless people.‍

If you could describe the look and feel of this Kim Petras era in one sentence—sartorially and spiritually—what would it be?‍

A sharp turn into the unknown — detour.