Dessa's 'superhero' cape made big impression at Orchestra Hall

Dessa headlines Orchestra Hall. Photo by Tony Nelson, provided by the Minnesota Orchestra.

Dessa doesn't spent much time dreaming about her wedding dress, she told a packed Orchestra Hall audience Saturday night. But an epic goth cape? That's an outfit she's considered.

The singer/rapper/author arrived on stage wearing laced boots, black leggings, a sequined dress and, on top of it all, a deep red, hooded cape that sparkled in the stage lights.

Her fans loved it. (As they loved the entire night, clapping and gasping and singing along.)

Afterward, Dessa acknowledged the cape's power in an Instagram post.

"Hello, I'm Dessa—better known as the human body that held The Cape aloft during its headlining set at Orchestra Hall this weekend."

The cape was designed and sewn by Minneapolis-based designer Joy Teiken, of Joynoelle. Dessa enlisted Teiken for her debut Orchestra Hall gigs last year. But this time, Dessa was "a little more open to doing something a little more dramatic," Teiken said. They found the sequined, patterned fabric together and began draping.

"It felt right that it was going to be a long cape with a train," she said. "It wouldn't be too costume-y. That's the line you don't want to cross.

"But she did look like a superhero."

The cape fastens around the neck with a silver key, a nod to Dessa's song "Skeleton Key." Teiken also made Dessa's stretchy, sparkly black dress, which had to allow for a broad range of movement, as Dessa lunged and crouched and stalked the stage.

But the cape has gotten the most attention.

"It's become this thing," Teiken said. "It's hilarious. She said to me that she thought she was getting upstaged by the cape.

"I don't think she can get upstaged by anything."

Photo by Tony Nelson, provided by the Minnesota Orchestra.