SZA’s Stylist Alejandra Hernandez-LaPilusa Unpacks Her Super Bowl Look

You may not have heard of Year of Ours, but you have seen their athleticwear. That is, if you were among the 127.7 million people watching this year’s Super Bowl LIX. The Los Angeles-based activewear brand outfitted SZA’s dancers during the halftime show in navy lace-up sports bras and lace-up ribbed leggings — playing off not only a football but also the laced-up red pants by Ashton Michael that SZA wore. The moment was a full circle one for Alejandra Hernandez-LaPilusa, SZA’s stylist and the designer behind Year of Ours, and it was also nine years in the making. 

“Kendrick Lamar had 120 dancers. SZA only had six,” Hernandez-LaPilusa, who joined the athletic brand in 2016, the same year she started working with SZA, said to WWD in an interview. “And I was like, ‘Let’s, let’s put Year of Ours on these girls.’ Any time I can put our product on I will.” 

For the past near decade, Hernandez-LaPilusa has been helping shape the visual identities of SZA and Year of Ours with the same ‘90s-rooted aesthetic and references. “I have a very specific, identifiable aesthetic where I am very vintage-inspired, and my knowledge in vintage clothing and my love of it is one of the reasons why Eleanor [Haycock] asked me to join the company in 2016,” Hernandez-LaPilusa said, explaining her path to the label cofounded by Haycock and Lily Shin. “The era we were kids and teenagers in — that supermodel era. That’s when I fell in love with fashion, as a kid, so I’m just forever pulling inspo from from that time.”

Year of Ours began with a quest to create “the perfect legging” that was both logoless and “90s-sportswear inspired.” “Our whole mood board at one point was full of sports inspiration [like] Princess Diana,” Haycock told WWD, referring to the style icon’s love of biker shorts among other sporty pieces. “It’s really evolved since then. It’s become more of a fashion, activewear brand rather than just a ‘90s sport nostalgia aesthetic.”

The brand, which has since grown to offer a variety of activewear, loungewear, swimwear, outerwear and maternity clothes, drops a new collection of 20 styles every month, whether it consists of new colors or new cuts. Unlike many brands launched in the same era as Year of Ours that went the direct-to-consumer route, the Los Angeles label’s business hinges 70 to 80 percent on wholesale, including Revolve, Nuuly and Shopbop. Year of Ours also frequently collaborates with fitness studios such as SoulCycle, Y7, Barry’s Bootcamp, Equinox and Rumble — which Haycock calls “the bread and butter of the business.” “We like co-branding a lot for studios so they can put their studio name on it — because we don’t really brand — and then their customer sees our quality and our fit, and it’s a win-win,” Haycock explained.

As for Years of Ours’ bestsellers, the brand’s Football Collection is at the top — but wasn’t a response to the Super Bowl. Instead, it preceded it. Year of Ours had already released a football-inspired collection before Hernandez-LaPilusa got the call to outfit SZA and her dancers during Lamar’s halftime performance. “I had to get them sketched because I had to send everything to the NFL for approval, and they approved,” Hernandez-LaPilusa said of the looks, adding of the approval process. “There’s always concern with cleavage and wardrobe malfunction. There were little things that we had to watch out for. But what was great was that our tops were actually sports bras. So the girls were in — there was nothing that was gonna like come out.”

In addition to Years of Ours, the brands Hernandez-LaPilusa sourced that made the cut for SZA’s halftime performance were all L.A.-based. “I had things from all over the world made and then in the fitting, she just so happened to pick all the things that were made in L.A., which couldn’t have aligned better with Kendrick being from L.A. and the year that L.A. has had,” Hernandez-LaPilusa explained, referencing the wildfires that devastated the city in January. “Even though it was in New Orleans, it was very L.A.-centric. Aside from the Year of Ours sets, the dancer’s other sets were also made in L.A.”

SZA wore a monochromatic red look for the occasion, pairing red Ashton Michael jeans with a boxy leather jacket by Born x Raised and a corset by Kate Broderick. “I just wanted something that felt like her,” Hernandez-LaPilusa said of the ensemble. “She loves things that have recycled materials. The top was handmade, and Kate Broderick tends to use a lot of organic, eco-friendly materials that look kind of distressed but [are] completely snatched on her body.…Obviously, the Super Bowl look is gonna go down as one of my favorite looks, for sure.”

Hernandez-LaPilusa’s other favorite looks of SZA’s include the floral and lace Zimmermann halter dress she wore with Didu boots to Variety’s Hitmaker of the Year Awards in 2023 and the custom jerseys that were handmade for her “SOS Tour.” “We picked the colors, and she’s very intentional with color,” Hernandez-LaPilus said. “Anytime you see her wearing color, it’s a color that means something spiritually. So all of those jersey combinations meant things to her spiritually.” 

Hernandez-LaPilusa is focused on SZA’s next run of performances — the upcoming Grand National Tour with Kendrick Lamar, which kicks off April 19 in Minneapolis. “She’s about to do a stadium tour — the same size stage as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé,” Hernandez-LaPilusa said, reflecting on SZA’s style evolution since they started working together nearly a decade ago. “She was a girl in her 20s, and now she’s a woman in her 30s, and she’s had an insane amount of success. With that comes personal growth, and a level of confidence in herself. Now she owns herself in a different way, and that totally translates into her style.”

Hernandez-LaPilusa is still dreaming up looks for the run of dates, but, yes, SZA’s dancers will be outfitted in Years of Ours for the tour.