Roars on the Runway

Kylie+Jenner+at+Paris+Fashion+Week+2023.+VOGUE+Taiwan%2C+CC+BY+3.0+via+Wikimedia+Commons.

Paris Fashion Week always surprises, with each fashion house competing to be more show-stopping than the last. One show, however, started the week in a roaring way. Maison Schiaparelli is an haute couture house created by Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli in 1927. The house is famous for its eccentric fashions, the use of surrealism in its collections, and unconventional themes among their collections.

This year was no different, with the first spotting of what Schiaparelli had in store being spotted even before the show began. Young Socialite Kylie Jenner was seen in a skintight black bustier velvet dress, with a giant hyper-realistic lion head attached to her chest.

The lion was made from sculpted foam, wool, and faux fur. Throughout the runway show, many other striking designs accompanied other designs incorporating the safari animals on models such as Naomi Campbell.

Daniel Roseberry, Schiaparelli’s creative director, explained the collection was inspired by Dante’s “Inferno” and the nine circles of hell. The three looks the designer created anchored around the handmade faux taxidermy of animals mentioned in the poem.

Some took to online to comment on Schiaparelli, Roseberry, and Jenner’s Instagram posts criticizing the collection for glamorizing big game hunting. Schiaparelli added a disclaimer to its Instagram posts that no animals were harmed in the making of the looks for the collection.

One of the models, Irina Shayk, who walked into the show took to defending the fashion house amid backlash. Shayk took to Instagram and wrote, “I support these incredible artists who worked tirelessly, with their hands, using wool, silk, and foam, to sculpt this embroidered lion, and image of Pride, An image that Schiaparelli invokes while exploring themes of strength,” along with saying she was honored to have been part of the show. PETA even commented on it and shared a video on Instagram of the show, applauding Schiaparelli for taking the first step toward an animal-friendly garment. In a statement provided to PEOPLE Magazine, “PETA continued that it is grateful that the show sparked a conversation around the violence of trophy hunting”