Katy Perry and Lorde both wore exquisite lilac purple dresses to ‘Variety’s Power of Women dinner, where they were honored for their philanthropic work.
Katy Perry and Lorde arrived at Variety‘s Power of Women dinner in the most ethereal ensembles. The honorees looked regal at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills on September 30: Katy, 36, wore a billowing lilac purple gown with off-the-shoulder puff sleeves, while Lorde, 24, opted for an elegant dress in the same dreamy hue with prints and a cape.
Katy completed the look with her hair pulled back into a bun, accessorizing with a pair of stylish dangling earrings. Lorde similarly pulled her hair back for the evening, looking sophisticated in a long ponytail. Both artists were among the honorees for Thursday’s dinner, which celebrated female trailblazers, poets, artists, and more for their philanthropic efforts. Actress Rita Moreno, poet Amanda Gorman, and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Studios Channing Dungey were also honored.
The evening was a star-studded affair, as Angelina Jolie, Ava DuVernay, Gayle King, Gloria Calderón Kellett, and Hunter Schafer had been tapped as presenters. The attendees included Justina Machado, Tia Mowry, Jenna Dewan, Kelly Hu, Chelsea Peretti, and Alyssa Milano, among others.
As for Katy and Lorde, Variety‘s executive editor Ramin Setoodeh shared a delightful clip of the two superstars conversing ahead of the dinner. Ah, to be able to eavesdrop on that conversation.
During the dinner, Lorde was honored for her work with 350 Aotearoa, a climate movement working to end fossil fuel-driven projects in her native New Zealand; meanwhile, Katy was honored for her Firework Foundation, an arts foundation that offers art programs to kids in underserved communities.
In her speech, Lorde reflected on the “golden microphone” she had been handed to amplify the causes important to her. “I was one of a million kids posting stuff online from their childhood bedroom, trying to impress their friends, when one day something crazy happened — I was handed a golden megaphone,” she said. “This megaphone amplified my voice tenfold, so that it wasn’t just heard by the people I knew.”
“All of a sudden journalists at major publications could hear my voice, still coming from my bedroom at the bottom of the world,” Lorde continued, later adding of power, “Be graceful with your power. Don’t grip it too tightly, or wield it unfairly. Be open to criticism and discussion of what you represent. It helps everyone move forward.” As for Katy’s speech, she thanked her sister Angela, among others, for her role as co-founder of Firework Foundation.
“This honor also belongs to my sister, Angela, my co-founder at the Firework Foundation, the ultimate champion for access and equal opportunity for children,” she said. “Thank you so much for keeping me focused on the greater good, holding my feet to the fire, keeping me accountable, putting all the logistics in place so that we can make an impact in our lives and other lives.” Katy also thanked fiancé Orlando Bloom, a “friend and ally to women around the world,” for “handling the insanity of my life.”