The Bad Guy singer has spoken candidly about the style choices she’s become known for, and how her relationship with her body became complicated after she suddenly found fame at just 14.
Now 24, the American artist first broke through as a very young teenager when she released Ocean Eyes, a track created with her brother Finneas in their childhood bedroom.
The song helped launch her into worldwide success — but being watched and judged so publicly at such a young age also brought an onslaught of opinions, many of them unwanted.
She’s far from the only former child star to speak about the lasting impact of early fame.
It’s also something she’s connected over with Justin Bieber, even while describing herself as his biggest fan.
She got a moment she’d never forget when Hailey Bieber encouraged her to join her husband on stage at Coachella, where she became his iconic “One Less Lonely Girl”.
Bieber, who has spoken openly about what it was like growing up under constant scrutiny, has said he feels protective of Eilish because of what he went through.
“I just want to protect her, you know,” he said in an interview with Apple Music.
“I don’t want her to lose it, I don’t want her to, you know, go through anything I went through. I don’t wish that upon anybody.”
During the conversation, an emotional Bieber continued: “It’s hard because I want her to know that she can count on me.”
Eilish is widely associated with oversized, baggy outfits — a look many fans mirror when they attend her shows — but it’s also a style choice she’s faced criticism and trolling for over the years.
More recently, she explained that there’s a heavier reason behind her clothing, revealing she’s struggled with body image for much of her life.
Speaking with Elle, she said: “I’m not the first person who’s worn baggy clothes, I had a really, really toxic relationship with my body, I had a lot of eating issues.
“I remember putting on, like, a big shirt and the relief that I felt.”
However, she suggested her decision to embrace oversized fits wasn’t solely rooted in body image concerns.
“At the same time,” she admitted, “It was my love for hip-hop culture and wanting to be a man.”
“This is the misogyny that we all have within us…which is that I didn’t want to be seen as feminine, and therefore weak. It’s not right. I’ve found a good way of not feeling like that.”