The Weeknd’s Red Suit: Every Look Explained (Grammys to Music Videos)

If you’ve been searching for the weeknd red suit and landing on ten different product pages that all say basically the same thing, this one’s going to be a little different. There’s an actual story here, and most sites selling this costume skip right past it.

Where the Red Suit Actually Comes From

Abel Tesfaye introduced this look with his 2020 album After Hours. He’s talked about it in interviews as “The Character,” a version of himself falling apart over the course of an era: gambling, partying too hard, getting into fights, and the visual marker for all of that is a bruised, bandaged face paired with this same red jacket, worn over and over. It shows up first in the Blinding Lights video, then at the VMAs, the AMAs, SNL. Somewhere in there it stopped being a wardrobe choice and became shorthand for the whole album.

Worth flagging, a lot of sites selling the weeknd costume online mix this up with his earlier Starboy era, which was mostly black and white and a completely different mood. If you’re trying to nail a specific look and not just “generic Weeknd,” that actually matters.

The Super Bowl Version (and Other Big Moments)

Most people picture the Super Bowl LV halftime show when they think of this jacket, February 2021. Givenchy made it, custom, Matthew M. Williams designed it, and the crystal embroidery alone took something like 250 hours (reports vary a bit on the exact number). No outfit change the entire performance either. Dancers behind him wore matching red jackets, bandaged faces too, same as his.

It had already made appearances before that though, the 2020 VMAs, the AMAs, that “Save Your Tears” video. If you ask me, the weeknd red blazer super bowl version is what basically everyone means when they search this, even the costume sites pretending otherwise.

A Newer Wrinkle Worth Knowing

Right now he’s mid-tour, After Hours Til Dawn, running through Europe into September 2026. And somewhere along the way, at least in some of the newer visuals, the red suit got swapped for a tuxedo. Fans noticed pretty quick. Depends which show you catch, honestly, some nights it’s still the red jacket, other nights he’s already moved on to the tuxedo thing.

Putting Together The Weeknd After Hours Outfit Yourself

The the weeknd red blazer has to be the starting point if you’re going for a the weeknd after hours outfit that actually looks right, and black pants underneath aren’t really optional, that contrast is basically the whole point of the look. Black shirt works better than white too, I’m not entirely sure why but white just flattens everything out once you’re in photos.

If you’re specifically trying to nail the Super Bowl version, black gloves and a slim tie get you most of the way there.

Sunglasses are more of an earlier-era, red-carpet thing. He wasn’t wearing them during the halftime show itself, so leave them out if that’s the exact moment you’re recreating.

The bandage makeup is where things usually go wrong. It’s great if you’re doing a real the weeknd after hours cosplay shoot with someone actually taking photos, but at a normal house party it can end up looking like you tried a bit too hard for the room. A single smudge under one eye gets the reference across without turning the whole night into a makeup project.

As for the jacket itself, our the weeknd red suit costume follows that Super Bowl cut pretty closely, same deep red, tailored instead of boxy, and it holds up whether you’re going for the stage look or the earlier red carpet one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the same as the Starboy outfit?
Not really. That whole era was mostly black and white, a pretty different mood from this one.

What’s actually different between the weeknd red suit outfit and the tuxedo people keep bringing up now?
The tuxedo’s from his more recent visuals. The red suit is still specifically an After Hours thing.

Does the weeknd halloween costume version work without any of the bandage makeup?
It does, plenty of people wear it clean and it still reads fine on its own.

Were those Super Bowl crystals actually real?
According to Givenchy, yes, all hand-applied. Probably not something you’d want on something you’re planning to wear to three different parties in the same weekend though.

What size should I order for the jacket?
True to size mostly, though a few people size up if they want to layer a shirt underneath without it looking too fitted. Check the size chart on the product page rather than guessing off your usual jacket size, the tailored cut runs a bit closer than a standard blazer.

Does it come with the bandage makeup or is it just the jacket?
Just the jacket. The bandage look is makeup, not something that ships with the costume, so you’ll need to sort that separately if you’re going for the full After Hours face along with it. 

What’s the jacket actually made from, does it feel cheap?
It’s not the Givenchy original obviously, nobody’s claiming that, but it’s a proper tailored fabric rather than the thin costume-store material people usually expect. Holds its shape reasonably well through a night out, though like most costume pieces it’s not really built for daily wear.