Usually, the biggest fashion casualties at Coachella are designer sunglasses or cowboy hats lost in the sand. But this weekend, a piece of pop history also seems to have vanished at the music festival in the California desert.
A vintage outfit worn by Madonna during her surprise performance on Friday is missing, Madonna wrote on social media on Monday. The ensemble, which included a purple jacket, corset and dress, was from her personal collection, she said.
Noting that it was her first appearance at the music festival since 2006, Madonna wrote on Instagram: “This full circle moment hit different until I discovered that the vintage pieces that I wore went missing”
She added: “These aren’t just clothes, they are part of my history.”
The pop star said that she was “hoping and praying” that someone would find the items and offered a reward for their safe return.
The Indio Police Department and the Riverside County Sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday morning, nor did Madonna’s representatives.
A representative for the Indio Police Department told the celebrity news site TMZ on Monday that some of the items were last seen on a golf cart at the festival on Saturday around 1:30 a.m. A spokesman for the department told the site that there was “no evidence to suggest the bags were intentionally stolen” and that a preliminary investigation suggested that they may have fallen off the cart as they were on their way to be loaded onto a bus.
Madonna appeared as a surprise guest on Friday during Sabrina Carpenter’s second weekend headlining set, where the two performed “Vogue” and “Like a Prayer.” Bringing out a surprise guest has become an increasingly common play for attention at the music festival, which has evolved into a platform where social media, spectacle and unexpected guests make the headlines.
Madonna’s performance on Friday came on the 20th anniversary of her first performance at Coachella and days after she announced “Confessions II,” a follow-up to her 2005 album, “Confessions on a Dance Floor.” The new album is scheduled for release on July 3.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/arts/music/madonna-coachella-outfits-missing-reward.html
