'No animals were harmed,' says Kylie Jenner, whose ultra-realistic lion head caused a stir at Paris

Kylie Jenner arrived at the first show of the season wearing a lifelike lion's head on her shoulder, kicking off couture week in Paris with a roar. Although, some social media users mistook the Schiaparelli mane for a genuine piece of taxidermy, not all animal activists were disturbed.

Swati Bhat

Mane event: Kylie Jenner arrived at the Schiaparelli show in Paris wearing a dress with a lifelike lion’s head attached. Photograph: Laurent VU/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock

The Schiaparelli gown, which also walked the runway, was made of "foam, wool, and silk faux fur, and hand painted to look as lifelike as possible," according to the brand's Instagram account.

To be clear, the brand added in all caps: "NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN MAKING THIS LOOK."

However, the French fashion house may have made a mistake by choosing the controversial youngest scion of the Kardashian-Jenner clan to debut a gown that is open to interpretation.

Commenters on social media speculated that if anyone could pull off a real lion's head, it would be Jenner. Several Twitter users appeared to have misidentified the head as a genuine taxidermy piece.

Russian model Irina Shayk walks the runway in the lion dress. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

Some of the backlash was more nuanced. One comment on Schiaperelli’s Instagram post, which has attracted more than 600 likes, said: “We have to stop showing animals as luxury ‘products’. They may be made from foam but these are endangered species that have historically been killed for their pelts to be turned into garments.”

The fashion house, which has deep ties to the surrealist art movement, was originally established in 1927. Like many luxury fashion brands at the time, the house, under the direction of its founder Elsa Schiaparelli, used exotic furs and animal skins in its original heyday. While outsized animal motifs remained when the brand was revived by Tod’s Group in 2012, the house has subsequently eschewed real fur.

Not all animal rights activists were disturbed by the lion, with the Peta president Ingrid Newkirk praising the look. She told TMZ that the brand’s collection of three-dimensional animal heads was “fabulously innovative” and “may be a statement against trophy hunting, in which lion families are torn apart to satisfy human egotism”.

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Some Fur, Some Swarovski & Some contemporary looks at The Couture Fashion Week SS23 at Paris in Jan

Swati Bhat

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Here's a first look at the Martine Rose x Nike Shox MR4 for FW23

Martine Rose and Nike(NYSE:NKE +0.75%) are back together with another round of Shox MR4 sneakers. The London-based designer takes to Pitti Immagine as Pitti Uomo 103‘s Guest Designer, delivering her Fall/Winter 2023 runway show in a grand Florentine loggia that’s been given an Italo house makeover. And while the clothes stole the hearts of the showgoers in attendance, it was the shoes on their feet that brought the collection together in harmony.

Courtesy: Ericbrain

Taking the Martine Rose x Nike Shox MR4 that debuted during Rose's SS23 runway show and was released shortly after in July 2022, the designer replaces the "White" and "Black/Red" colorways with something more subtle. The new colorway of purple fading into blue, inspired by goalkeeper jerseys from the 1990s, is reminiscent of terrace culture and Italy's love of football, while also staying on theme with Rose-isms we've come to know and love.

The sneaker is structurally identical to those that came before it, with a pointed and squared-off toe that nods to both Rose's own footwear designs and her ongoing research into football culture. Extra-long laces and silver-toned 3M panels on the mesh vamp give the smart-casual sneaker-mule football boot cues, while silver stitching outlining the black plush synthetic Swoosh emblem on the mid-panels also veers into soccer territory.

Grooved plastic acts as a heel clip and runs around the back of the shoe, and Martine Rose's signature "R" emblem is incorporated into the plastic on the medial side. The rest of the shoe is made of smooth leather, with sculptural details in geometric formations adding a final touch of retro footballing cues to the silhouette.

A Nike Shox system can be found at the rear, as expected. Four pistons in a bright blue colour sit atop a black sole unit plate and support the black leather dual-branded insoles. "I really wanted it to feel like a collaboration between London and Italy in the broadest sense," Rose said exclusively to Hypebeast about the collaboration. Music and dance music culture, as well as sport, are two things that unite the United Kingdom and Italy. The shoe emphasises this and draws heavily on these two elements. Those little nods to sports across the water were what brought us together."

The exclusive images above show the new Martine Rose x Nike Shox MR4. There is no word on when they will be available, but expect limited quantities and a quick sell-out.

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