When Lola Young became Glastonbury's biggest star

At Plunge, we never shy away from a challenge. So when Lola Young’s team approached us to help create a giant version of the pop star to tour around Glastonbury Festival, we jumped on board.

Our part of the project was to make the Lola’s face as realistic as possible. To do this we hard coated her poly-crafted features and then hand painted multiple layers to create convincing flesh tones and subtle skin textures, all carefully matched from photographic references of Lola. This process combined fine art finishing techniques, layering colour, depth and detail to achieve a remarkably lifelike result, which sat somewhere between museum-quality portraiture and gloriously oversized festival absurdity.

The eyes were a standout feat of craftsmanship, showcasing the team’s exceptional technical skill and artistic precision. Constructed from plastic hemi and resin, they were developed through an intensive colour-matching process to capture Lola’s gaze. 

Lola's eyelashes were individually fabricated from real hair, because a pop icon deserves unapologetically fabulous lashes. Her facial jewellery was hand-crafted from Zote by our prop artists, injecting a sense of playful glamour. 

The final touch was to put Lola's make-up on, and this was arguably the most intricate and time-intensive stage of the project. Through contouring, delicate hand-painted details, and expert cosmetic finishing, her features were brought to life with striking realism by our resident make-up artist. To complete the look, a bespoke wig was carefully hand-styled and neatly tucked into a bonnet, faithfully reflecting reference images of Lola. The result is a perfect balance of technical excellence and pop-star attitude.

Once Lola's face was festival-ready, we attached it to her giant pink inflatable body and placed her on a truck bound for Glastonbury.  On arrival, she toured the fields and lanes around the festival site, promoting her afternoon appearance on the Woodsies stage. Rolling through the festival, Lola became part roaming billboard, part performance artwork and part wonderfully eccentric publicity stunt. 

On stage, Lola told the crowd that performing at Glastonbury had always been her dream. The 25-year-old Londoner first rose to prominence in 2016, winning the under-16 category of Open Mic UK and reaching the finals of the Got What It Takes? talent competition. Lola released her debut single in 2019 and became a recognisable name in the music industry when she covered Phil Oakey’s “Together in Electric Dreams” for the John Lewis Christmas advert in the same year.