12 Times Dua Lipa Proved She’s the Definition of Effortlessly Iconic

Dua Lipa is the kind of girl who makes everything look effortless—easy, cool, and completely natural. She’s built an incredible career, had some truly amazing fashion moments, and topped the charts multiple times. Her life seems like one iconic moment after another, but here are our top 12 favorites.

Moving Back to London at 15

Dua was born in London to Albanian parents who fled Kosovo in the ’90s. She spent her early childhood in the UK, but after Kosovo declared independence, her family moved back to Pristina. Dua was 11 at the time. Life was good in both places, but even as a young teen, she had one thing on her mind—music.

At just 15, she convinced her parents to let her move back to London on her own to chase her dream. Once she was there, Dua got straight to work: enrolling in school, taking singing classes at the Sylvia Young Theatre School on weekends (yup, the same one Amy Winehouse and Rita Ora attended), and uploading song covers to YouTube. It was a bold move that would later become the origin story of one of pop’s biggest stars.

The Release of “New Rules” (2017)

Do you think Dua knew that when she wrote “New Rules,” she was basically creating a post-breakup Bible? The song instantly became a self-help anthem for girls around the world. It made you feel empowered and ready to dance instead of moping around after heartbreak. The music video radiated “girls support girls” energy and cool-headed self-respect.

The BRITs Double Win (2018)

In 2018, Dua made history by scoring five BRIT Award nominations in a single night (no big deal) and casually walked away with two: British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act. A total “main character” moment.

She accepted the awards with a calm, confident “yup, I deserve this” attitude and ended her speech by saying, “Here’s to more women on this stage and more women winning awards and more women taking over the world.” Hard to disagree.

Winning the Best New Artist Grammy (2019)

By the 2019 Grammys, Dua wasn’t the “new girl” anymore—she was the girl everyone was talking about. She owned the night, winning Best New Artist and, because one trophy clearly wasn’t enough, Best Dance Recording for Electricity with Diplo and Mark Ronson.

Her acceptance speech was a total mic-drop moment. She stood up there all poised and cool, then said, “I guess we really stepped up this year,” with a grin that said she knew exactly how iconic that was. Equal parts humble and savage.