Sources | Kylie Jenner’s Lionhead Dress Sparks Controversy

Kylie Jenner attended the Schiaparelli show in Paris on Monday. She wore a black velvet off-the-shoulder gown adorned with a life-size lion’s head—a preview of the label’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection, which debuted shortly thereafter.

A faux lion head with a neatly trimmed mane takes surrealism to a new level. The design covered Jenner’s entire torso and was completed with a pair of black Schiaparelli slingbacks with gold embossed toes.

Jenner’s outfit was spotted on the runway as she rocked the outfit from her seat. The collection features more surreal animal ensembles. The show reported that the series was inspired by Dante’s “Inferno” and the nine circles of hell. It’s a metaphor for the uncertainty and creative torment all artists experience, writes creative director Daniel Roseberry.

Roseberry reimagined the series’ leopard, lion, and she-wolf, literally taking the three beasts from 14th-century poetry—representing lust, pride, and greed, respectively.

Naomi Campbell wore a boxy black faux fur coat with a wolf’s head on the left shoulder, while Canadian model Shalom Harlow wore an off-the-shoulder snow leopard shift , with a cat’s head protruding from his chest.

These animal parts are completely handcrafted from resin and man-made materials. Although Schiaparelli called the creations “artificial taxidermy,” the proximity to trophy hunting put off some social media users.

Roseberry believes in the power of art and the conversations it sparks. If the clothes evoke fear, they are functioning, he said. “Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso: one without the other,” he concluded in his performance notes. “It reminds us that there is no heaven without hell; no joy without sorrow; no ecstasy of creation without the torment of doubt.”

Roseberry further stated, “It’s not clothing. It’s not even wearable art. It’s not like a couturier dressing a woman up like a doll. It’s more about talking about that feminine energy.” Elaboration heightened the excellent execution of the design, but the show was arguably overshadowed by critics.