Sade, the British band fronted by Sade Adu, is set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2026. While their music is widely celebrated, Adu’s distinctive style—scraped-back hair, red lipstick, hoop earrings, and simple black dresses or denim—has also left a lasting impact. Her look, described as understated yet unattainable, continues to resonate decades after the band’s 1980s heyday.
Despite Sade not releasing an album since 2010, Adu’s image remains pervasive. Rapper Drake, a self-proclaimed superfan, has two tattoos of Adu and reportedly owns a 9ft sculpture of her. The song “No Ordinary Love” featured in the recent series Love Story, and the outfit Adu wore in the video for “The Sweetest Taboo”—a cropped jacket, Levi’s jeans, and cowboy boots—is part of the V&A East’s inaugural exhibition, The Music is Black.
Designer Fiona Dealey, who worked with Adu in the early 1980s, compares her style to that of Katharine Hepburn or Marlene Dietrich. “It’s very classical—sexy but elegant at the same time,” Dealey says. Adu’s look stood out from peers like Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Cyndi Lauper, drawing instead from London’s jazz-funk scene and earlier Black jazz artists like Cab Calloway.
Adu studied fashion design at Saint Martin’s School of Art and worked briefly as a model before her music career. Iain R Webb, a former classmate, recalls her “understated, nonchalant look” and “insouciant attitude.” In a 1988 interview, Adu said, “I like clothes. I don’t like fashion, but I do like clothes.” Her style, often mixing masculine and utilitarian pieces, has been described as timeless and effortlessly elegant.
