He's so fancy! The costume designer behind the outrageous outfits of Iggy Azalea and Britney Spears spills his secrets- including creating Katy Perry's famous 'cupcake bra'

By Maria Lewis for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 19:34 EST, 30 August 2014 | Updated: 06:56 EST, 31 August 2014

You mightn't know Marco Marco's name, but odds are you know his work-  the costume designer is has created some of music's most memorable costumes, including Iggy Azalea's spiderweb jumpsuit at the recent MTV Video Music Awards.

Marco has been working with the 24-year-old Australian rapper for over two years - long before she had a worldwide hit with Fancy - and said he loves working with her famous curves.

'I wasn't phased by the fashion community and I wasn't indoctrinated into this preset idea of what an ideal woman's body is, size 0 or 2 or whatever,' he told Daily Mail Australia.  

Black Widow: Costume designer Marco Marco is the man behind some of pop music's most famous outfits, including Iggy Azalea's recent costume at the MTV VMAs for her Black Widow performance 

 'I learnt that you design for the body and Iggy has such a great silhouette - everything looks good on her.

'She's like a real-life Jessica Rabbit.'  

Cher, Britney Spears Iggy Azalea, Katy Perry, Fergie and Selena Gomez are just a handful of the A-list clients who, when they want something wacky to wear, call on Marco.

Hear me Roar: He's a frequent collaborator with Katy Perry and her stylist Johnny Wujek, designing this ensemble for the release of Roar 

Angelic opportunity: Marco Marco worked on every costume in Britney Spears' Las Vegas show, and has also worked with marquee names like Cher and Selena Gomez

After falling in love with Los Angeles as a child, he moved to Hollywood at the age of 18 to try and 'make it' in the fashion world. 

'Coming here as a kid I wanted to do something, anything, and I would hold on to any branch that would take me down the river,' he told The Daily Mail Australia.  

Honing his craft by designing outfits for prominent American drag queens, he then landed his big break working with the Black Eyed Peas. 

Big break: After working on American Idol as a tailor, he found fame designing costumes for Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas' E.N.D. world tour

Taking notice: He said his designs for the tiny star were the first time people started to take notice of his work

'It was the first time people began standing up and taking notice of my work without actually knowing me personally,' said the thirty-something of the reaction to the band's outfits. 

A few years down the track, he is now famed for crafting some of the most iconic looks in recent pop culture history including several of Iggy Azalea's trademark costumes - and for a best-selling menswear line. 

The Australian blonde bombshell has had a meteoric rise to fame, notorious as much for her fashion-forward choices as for her raps, and the designer said he loves her 'strong opinions'. 

Famous curves: Marco Marco said he doesn't adhere to the fashion industry's idea of what a normal body is and loves Azalea's 'Jessica Rabbit' curves 

On tour: The thirty-something designer - who started out making props - is behind many of the 24-year-old rapper's most famous looks 

Long haul: Marco Marco and Azalea have been working together for over two years - long before she was mega-famous - and he said he loves her 'strong opinions'

When it comes to choosing a favourite outfit or a beloved design, Marco Marco said it's excruciatingly hard to pick just one, naming an Iggy Azalea outfit and Katy Perry's famous cupcake bra as a couple.

'It's always nice to work with someone who respects what they're doing that much,' he said.

'She has such strong opinions and great ideas, which makes things easier.'

Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora's MTV VMA Black Widow costumes

The Amazing Spider-Man: The MTV VMA outfits for her single Black Widow were inspired by comic book character Venom from Marvel's Spider-Man

Azalea stole the limelight in a show featuring live performances from the likes of Usher and Beyonce- thanks to her performance of Black Widow in a costume inspired from comic books.

'Iggy and her stylist really wanted to do something that was sexy and dark, something that felt different form the video and they wanted to take it to another world,' Marco said

'She wanted ballerinas and to come across as an eerie form of a black widow, so it the girls were the spiders then she would be the spiderweb.

'The spiderwebs in her costume are a lot like Venom from Spider-Man and I think a lot of what I do is like a superhero costume in a way.'   

Katy Perry's California Gurls cupcake bra

'Fit of desperation': Marco Marco said he came up with Katy Perry's cupcake bra idea for her California Gurls video clip on the day of the fitting and that it was made from paper towels, latex, cellophane and foam 

For Katy Perry, Marco Marco had a very specific request from Perry's best friend and stylist Johnny Wujek to do something delicious for the California Gurls clip - which resulted in Katy's famous cupcake bra.  

'Johnny and I had worked together on some K-Pop bands and he wanted me to create something very different and specific for her video,' he said. 

'On the day I realised I hated everything and in a fit of desperation I took some cellophane, foam, paper towels and latex and threw all these objects together.

'In that last moment things happened perfectly and the end result was made of materials I would have never used if it wasn't out of necessity.

'The cupcake bra was the first piece I made for him - and I have gone on to do a bunch of stuff with Katy since,' he said 

Iggy Azalea's galactic MTV EMA stage outfit

Galactic babe: For the Work singers MTV EMA performance with Robin Thicke, the designer said he wanted to make it look like the flesh was floating on her body 

Another favourite outfit was also for Iggy, who stepped on stage with Robin Thicke just weeks after his controversial performance with Miley Cyrus at the VMAs 2013.

But the LA-based designer was ready. 

'We took nude fishnets and laid the pieces on the body so it would look like they were floating separately,' he said of Iggy's intergalactic-style dress. 

'I love to find more interesting ways to show skin.

'From conception, we usually come up with 20 to 25 sketches and work with the artist from there and Iggy loved this.' 

Nicki Minaj's kawaii animal plush toy dress

Kawaii couture: He drew on Japanese culture for Nicki Minaj's wacky rainbow, stuffed-animal dress - the first of several designs he worked on foe her before her Pink Friday tour  

Nicki Minaj was another star who, like Marco Marco, enjoys making a statement.

The pair's collaboration on a kawaii-themed dress made entirely out of stuffed toys a match was a made in quirky heaven.

'Getting to do the stuffed animal dress with her made me realise she's such a professional,' he said.

'It's hard because every outfit and every client is so different and I love it because I've had the opportunity to do something that's so uniquely theirs. 

'What I'd do for Nicki Minaj looks nothing like what I'd do for Britney or Katy.' 

Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora's Black Widow video clip jumpsuits  

Video star: The LA-based designer's first video clip design was for Azalea's Black Widow, with him creating Kill Bill-inspired jumpsuits for her and Rita Ora 

The big-budget Kill Bill-inspired video clip for Azalea's follow-up single to Fancy had to be impressive, and Marco Marco held nothing back when it came to designing everything from the matching jumpsuits to Black Widow and diner logos.  

'Black Widow was the first video I had done, and I had been doing Iggy's live shows for a long time.

'You have one shot - you only have three minutes to blow their mind.'

Britney Spears' Vegas showgirl residency 

It's Britney b**ch: Marco Marco and his team of 12 designed Britney Spears' entire stage costume roster for her Las Vegas residency - a job he said was a massive undertaking 

For the pop queen's Las Vegas residency, Marco Marco and his team of 12 were brought on to design the whole tour's roster of costumes.

'That was exciting to work with someone like Britney who you know she's going to get so much attention for whatever she does.

'There was so much pressure and a lot of challenges with such a large show, with so many dancers and so many changes and so many worlds within the one concert.'   

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