in CultureWords By Highsnobiety
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This article was published on January 23, 2023 and updated on January 24
Love her or hate her, you can't deny that Kylie Jenner is literally wearing a giant, stuffed lion's head.
That's it, that's the tweet. Or the TikTok, we should say.
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At Schiaparelli's Fall/Winter 2023 presentation, held during the haute couture shows at Paris Fashion Week on January 23, Kylie Jenner was spotted wearing a dress with a stuffed lion's head worn around her shoulders.
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It's as crazy as it sounds so perhaps it bears repeating: Kylie Jenner is wearing a giant, stuffed lion's head over her dress.
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Designed by Schiaparelli creative director Daniel Roseberry, Jenner's lion's head shawl — hand-sculpted, painted, and decorated with manmade materials, according to Schiaparelli — wasn't even the wildest look worn to the runway show.
Just look at Doja Cat's getup!
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This is all par for the course as far as Schiaparelli goes.
Every season, the house draws attendees wearing some of the wildest outfits seen all Fashion Week, epitomized by Schiaparelli fans like Cardi B and, of course, Doja Cat.
Still, Kylie Jenner's lion head — which she was seen petting prior to the show — may take the cake as far as "wild" dresses go (literally! 'cuz it's a lion!).
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Not since the heyday of Lady Gaga or Björk have we witnessed this kind of truly bonkers statement dressing and, frankly, it's pretty undeniable in terms of sheer spectacle.
Paris Fashion Week is all about the ludicrous ensembles, despite this season's prevailing mood of normalcy, so crazy "look at me" outfits are not too shocking.
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Or are they?
Despite the disclaimer Schiaparelli used for its Instagram posts revealing the look — "NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN MAKING THIS LOOK." — backlash was swift.
A flood of comments complaining about the commodification of animals and the implicit meaning behind the designs immediately took over Schiaparelli's social media pages.
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The vibe is "Wrong on so many levels," according to one top comment. "Whether it’s fake or not, it promotes animal cruelty," said another. Fashion publication Purple even purported that "Those amazing dresses are glamorizing safaris and glorifying wild animal hunting," even though the designs are a reference to the three symbolic beasts within Dante's Inferno.
Likely not the reaction Schiaparelli, Roseberr, or Jenner was expecting.
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Another surprise reaction: PETA doesn't actually mind the dresses.
“Kylie, Naomi and Irina’s looks celebrate the beauty of wild animals and may be a statement against trophy hunting, in which lions and wolves are torn apart to satisfy human egotism,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement, calling the manmade animal heads"fabulously innovative."
If PETA thinks the so-called scandal isn't a big deal, you've really gotta reconsider the stuff making you angry.
