Tamta has spent years building a world where music, fashion and performance refuse to stay in their lanes. Last month that instinct took her somewhere new: the runway. On 18th September she made her debut for Natasha Zinko at London Fashion Week, walking the designer’s SS27 ‘Pay Per View’ show in a camel leather effect two-piece alongside Katie Price and Drea de Matteo. For an artist who has always treated clothes as part of the same creative language as her songs, it felt less like a detour and more like a natural next step.
The Georgian born Greek pop artist has long been drawn to Zinko’s work, citing recognition in its post Soviet contrasts and glamorous roughness that echoes the contradictions she grew up with. That sense of familiarity ran through the show itself, which turned Collins Music Hall into an immersive space exploring visibility, identity and the performance of self.
With more than 300 million streams behind her, a history of fashion collaborations – including Mugler, her own label KIKI Music, and recent releases that lean further into the experimental, THE VILLAIN HEROINE, AUTOTAPINOSI and IN BERLIN. Tamta is in the middle of a curious chapter. Earlier this month Tamta returned to London for an immersive show at Colours Hoxton that folds music, fashion, choreography and visuals into one night.
In conversation with Noctis, Tamta opens up about the excitement and nerves of that first runway walk, the freedom of not settling on a single version of herself, and the aggressively raw new world she’s currently building for her next album.
You’ve just made your runway debut for Natasha Zinko at London Fashion Week. What was going through your head just before you stepped onto the runway for the first time?
I was super excited and nervous at the same time. I’ve performed on stage for so many years, in front of very large audiences, but this was completely different. There’s a different kind of discipline to walking a runway, and suddenly I was stepping into somebody else’s creative world rather than my own. Once I stepped onto the runway, the nerves quickly disappeared and I just enjoyed being part of it.
You’ve said there’s something in Natasha Zinko’s visual language that feels familiar to you because of growing up in Georgia. What is it about her work that gives you that sense of recognition?
There’s something in Natasha’s work that feels very familiar to me, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. Maybe it’s the post-Soviet references, the contrasts, the way something can feel glamorous and rough. Growing up in Georgia, I was surrounded by contradictions, so there are details in her world that I recognise instinctively. I’ve also been wearing Natasha for years, long before this show happened, so I already felt connected to the way she approaches fashion. It’s fearless, unpredictable and doesn’t take itself too seriously, even when there is a very strong concept behind it.
Fashion has always been a big part of your identity as an artist. How involved are you in creating your looks, and what does fashion allow you to express that music sometimes can’t?
I’m very involved and for the most part I have the creative lead in many of my projects. For me, fashion has never really been something that comes after my music. It’s part of the same process. Especially in the last few years, I’ve become much more interested in creating a complete world around each project, so what I wear, how I move, the photography, the videos and the stage all communicate with each other.
Music can express something emotional that is sometimes difficult to put into words, while fashion can communicate an idea before I’ve even said or sung anything. You can completely change the way someone reads you through one image. I find that very powerful.
Your style can move between glamorous and experimental. Do you feel like getting dressed gives you the freedom to explore different versions of yourself?
Definitely. I don’t think I’ve ever been interested in finding one look and staying there. Some days I want something very glamorous, other days I want to look aggressive or almost unrecognisable. But some days I want to feel glamorous while wearing something experimental. I think all of those versions can coexist.
That’s also something I’ve been exploring through my music: the idea that identity doesn’t have to be fixed. You don’t necessarily have to decide which version of yourself is the “real” one. They can all be real. Fashion gives me a very immediate way of playing with that.
Your recent music has taken a more experimental direction, particularly with THE VILLAIN HEROINE, AUTOTAPINOSI and IN BERLIN. What has been inspiring you creatively during this chapter?
Freedom, mostly. I think I reached a point where I became less interested in whether something fitted perfectly into what people already knew me for. That opened a lot of doors creatively.
With THE VILLAIN HEROINE, I was interested in opposites and contradictions and in allowing different sides of myself to exist within the same project. Since then, that curiosity has kept growing. I’ve been inspired by club culture, fashion, the state of society around us, the people I collaborate with and the environments I find myself in. Working with artists and producers from different worlds has also pushed me into places I probably wouldn’t have reached alone. I’m enjoying not knowing exactly where something will end when I begin making it.
You’re bringing a new immersive show to Colours Hoxton that combines music, fashion, choreography and visuals. How important is it for you that audiences experience more than just the music when they see you live?
It’s extremely important to me. I never want a live show to feel like I’m simply reproducing the recordings on stage. I’m always interested in how the songs can transform when you put them in a room with people and introduce movement and visuals.
The last few years of performing at SMUT in Athens really allowed me to explore that. Having a residency meant I could keep developing the show, changing details and understanding how the energy of the audience becomes part of the performance itself. That experience has definitely influenced the way I approach London. Of course the music is at the centre, but I want you to enter a world for that hour. I want there to be things you can feel that you couldn’t experience by simply pressing play on a music streaming platform.
You’ve spoken about being closely involved in every part of your creative world. As your career has evolved, have you become more confident in trusting your own instincts rather than thinking about what people expect from a pop artist?
Absolutely, but I think it took time. At the beginning of my career, I was still trying to understand where I belonged and what kind of artist I wanted to be. When you’ve been doing this for a long time, people naturally develop an idea of who you are and what they expect from you. Sometimes that can become limiting if you allow it to.
Over the years I’ve learned that curiosity is probably more valuable to me than consistency. I would rather follow something that excites me and risk surprising people than repeat something simply because I know it works. Creating KIKI MUSIC was also part of that evolution for me. It gave me another space where independence, experimentation and instinct could really be at the centre of the process. I still question things constantly, but I trust those questions much more now.
You’re currently shaping your next album. What can you tell us about the world you’re building around this project, both musically and visually, and does it feel like another reinvention for you?
I’m still building it, so I don’t want to give too much away just yet. But you can expect something raw and free, with a sound that leans into rock and a more aggressive energy. And I truly hope we find unexpected ways to bring that energy visually to my listeners as well.
I don’t know if I would call it a reinvention, because that suggests leaving one version of myself behind and becoming another. Right now it feels more like an evolution of everything I’ve been exploring over the last few years.
