Nothing says fierce like using an apex predator as a brooch. On Monday, Kylie Jenner stole the show at Schiaparelli's couture runway in Paris when she arrived in a black velvet strapless gown adorned with the life-size head of a lion — a pre-release from the label's Spring-Summer 2023 couture collection that debuted moments later.
The hyper-realistic faux head (complete with a manicured mane) covered the entirety of Jenner's torso. She finished the outfit with a pair of black Schiaparelli sling-backs with golden embossed toes.
Moments after taking her seat, Jenner's surreal lion look was spotted again on the runway alongside a series of other animalistic ensembles. According to the show notes, the collection was inspired by Dante's "Inferno" and the nine circles of hell — a metaphor for the doubt and creative torment all artists experience, wrote creative director Daniel Roseberry. Drawing literally from the three beasts that appear in the 14th century poem, Roseberry reimagined the leopard, the lion and the she-wolf in the collection; "representing lust, pride and avarice respectively." Naomi Campbell modeled a boxy, black faux fur coat with a wolf's head emerging from the left shoulder, while Canadian model Shalom Harlow wore a strapless snow leopard tube dress with a roaring feline head bursting through the bust.
People are also reading…
The head-turning pieces were constructed entirely by hand from foam resin and other man-made materials. Yet despite Schiaparelli specifying the pieces are "faux-taxidermy," the visual parallel with trophy hunting means some social media users are finding the collection difficult to appreciate.
But for Roseberry, if the clothes are instilling fear then they're doing their job. "Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso: One cannot exist without the other," he concluded in the show notes. "It is a reminder there is no such thing as heaven without hell; there is no joy without sorrow; there is no ecstasy of creation without the torture of doubt."
Photos from Paris Fashion Week: Jan. 23, 2023

A model wears a creation as part of the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A model wears a creation as part of the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A model wears a creation as part of the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A model wears a creation as part of the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Model, Irina Shayk, wears a creation as part of the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A model wears a creation as part of the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A model wears a creation as part of the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Kylie Jenner attends the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Kylie Jenner attends the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A model wears a creation as part of the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

Roger Federer, from left, Anna Wintour, Baz Luhrmann and Mirka Federer pose for photographers prior to the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Jisoo attends a photo call before the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

A model wears a creation as part of the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation as part of the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Kylie Jenner attends the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Naomi Campell wears a creation as part of the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

A model wears a creation as part of the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

Carla Bruni attends a photo call before the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Kirsten Dunst attends a photo call before the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Anya Taylor-Joy attends a photo call before the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Maisie Williams attends a photo call before the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Isabelle Adjani attends a photo call before the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Models wear creations as part of the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

A model wears a creation as part of the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

A model wears a creation as part of the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation as part of the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A model wears a creation as part of the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Models wear creations as part of the Dior Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2023 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)