Rita Ora Talks Being Coca-Cola’s New Icon, Raiding Beyonce’s Wardrobe & Why’s She Bringing “Something New” To The Voice

If we looked as fabulous as Rita Ora at 10am in the morning, we'd be laughing. The star looked nothing short of fabulous when we joined her for the celebration of Coca-Cola's iconic contour glass bottle bright and early on Thursday. Dressed in a ravishing red gown topped off with Sophia Webster heels and her trademark blonde waves plus scarlet lip firmly in place, Rita put a bleary-eyed* Grazia Daily* to shame.

So after striking a pose in the pop-up Coca-Cola cafe, La Ora sat down with us to reveal her fashion secrets, and nightmares...

Grazia Daily: For starters, we need to talk about this dress!

Rita Ora: It was designed by a dear friend of my stylist, called Sorapol. It’s so nice to give independent up-coming designers some exposure and since designing for adidas, I’ve got obsessed with getting involved in adapting outfits.

Grazia Daily: So is your wardrobe a very collaborative process?

Rita Ora: Yeah, Kyle [De'volle, Rita's stylist] has to reign me in sometimes because I can get a little crazy. I’m like ‘can we cut this out?’ and he says ‘the dress is physically impossible to put on if you do that!’ So it is a good balance between crazy and possible.

Grazia Daily: Has Kyle ever suggested an outfit and you’ve refused?

Rita Ora: Yeah of course. I think that’s why we make such a great team because we can be very blunt. We’ve known each other for a long time and it’s all about honesty rather than sugar-coating. There’s only a few people’s opinions I can trust.

Grazia Daily: This dress is quite Superwoman-esque. Is your style inspired by strong, iconic women?

Rita Ora: It reminded me of Marilyn Monroe and it’s like a swishy cape or flag at the back. I always chose an outfit that other women will be inspired to wear.

Grazia Daily: We love your style on The Voice. Have you adapted your wardrobe for TV?

Rita Ora: Of course there are different rules when you’re on TV but I thought, “Sod it, I’m going to wear what I like!” And thank God I did.

**Grazia Daily: Jessie J recently said you’re not tough enough on the show. How do you deal with the comparisons?

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Rita Ora: There are always going to be comparisons because there’s only been two female coaches before me. The two women ahead of me were honourable in their own fields, but I’m bringing something new. I’m being Rita the artist but also Rita the business person because even though it is about my music, it’s also about the world you create around you. You’ve got to be smart.

Grazia Daily: Are you nervous about the live shows?

Rita Ora: Yes, live TV always makes me nervous. But since conqueringa performance at the Oscars{ =nofollow}, I feel I can do anything. That was a big platform and it changed a lot for me. I got a great reaction and my social followers went up a LOT. It was that and meeting the President of the United States that’s topped it for me.

Grazia Daily: Speaking of which, you have many fabulous friends – whose wardrobe would you love to raid?

Rita Ora: Beyonce because of all the iconic performances she's had. But to be honest, it’s her mother, Miss Tina, who has a wardrobe to mess with. And little Blue Ivy has a bigger wardrobe than both of them!

**Grazia Daily: And what about taking clothes from your boyfriend’s wardrobe? **

Rita Ora: Oh, I do it all the time. The morning after is always tricky because you don’t want to walk home in your dress from the night before. So I wear a shirt... or anything that’s clean really!

Grazia Daily: So what’s your favourite red carpet moment?

Rita Ora: Probably the first time I ever went on a red carpet with cameras everywhere. It was in New York and I was wearing my first black Donna Karan dress. I knew nothing about angles and I’ll never forget that first feeling. I’m getting used to it now but there will always be bad angles. It’s all about you feeling confident and eating healthily.

Grazia Daily: That red dress you wore to the 2014 VMAs really proved how confident you are in your own skin…

Rita Ora: Yeah I wanted to wear a dress that looked like it was literally attached to my skin by air. I was really, umm, running free under that dress! So I had to keep it together without looking like I was keeping it together. I wanted to do it for myself so that I could look back and be like, “Yes, I didn’t have anything underneath that dress and I did it”.

**Grazia Daily: Did you have a lot of input into that look too? **

Rita Ora: Yeah, I designed it from a Donna Karan sketch. I wanted to go with this vibe and it was two days before so I just said, “Oh give me some red silk, we’ve got this”. I designed it all, sent it through and Donna said “fine, let’s do it”. I’m very hands on when I have the opportunity to do that.

Grazia Daily: Do you pay attention to what fashion critics say?

Rita Ora: I try to ignore it but then it’s like, “Vera Wang didn’t personally sketch a dress for you, did she?!” That’s what happened for the Oscars, which was incredible.

Grazia Daily: And how do you stay strong in the face of controversial stories about you?

Rita Ora: I’m very busy so that keeps me distracted from focusing on negativity. There’s always going to be pros and cons with being in the public eye.

**Grazia Daily: You’ve already worked with some amazing designers – who else is on your hit list? **

Rita Ora: Tom Ford. I love him. He’s classic and his dresses make women look incredibly sexy.

Grazia Daily: Finally, please tell us your selfie secret.

Rita Ora: Never ever do an angle from below. Why create a double chin when you haven’t got one? And use a black and white filter – I like to keep it classic and iconic.

Rita Ora kicked off celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the iconic Coca-Cola Bottle at the opening of the Contour Centenary Bar in Soho www.cokezone.com