Social media caught fire after Kylie Jenner wore a dress with a lion's head on her shoulder. Schiaparelli, the designer brand, explained how it was made, and PETA defended the design.
Kylie Jenner, the 25-year-old American model and businesswoman, was involved in a recent controversy after wearing a "fierce" and controversial dress in a show by the Schiaparelli brand, directed by the American designer Daniel Roseberry, for her new spring-summer collection. In her appearance during Paris fashion week, the influencer wore a tight-fitting black dress with a lion's head on the upper right side of her chest, but it didn't make a very good impression in front of the crowd. public opinion.
While Kriss Jenner, the head of the Jenner-Kardashian family, praised her daughter with "my little lioness, you are so beautiful", other users on social networks expressed their discontent with slogans such as "animals ARE NOT accessories", "promote animal abuse will never be right" or "No, no, no, this is 100% wrong. Say no to animal cruelty."
Some others noted: "this is not art", or clarified that the design on her clothing was "a way of promoting animal abuse / the killing of endangered animals". "This is what happens to people who get too rich and run out of things to say, do and wear," another netizen commented.
Jenner's fans, who make up the 379 million followers on her official Instagram account, referred to her dress as a symbol of animal cruelty, believing it to be the head of a real lion. However, it is not so.
kylie jenner wearing a lion schiaparelli dress from the runaway pic.twitter.com/icHRpO5V4M
— fan account (@badestoutfit) January 23, 2023
'Inferno', the new and controversial Schiaparelli collection that brought criticism to Kylie Jenner
For this new collection called 'Inferno', whose looks simulate the heads of some wild animals, she was inspired by the 16th century poem, 'The Divine Comedy' by Dante Alighieri. It describes the descent into the nine circles of hell, where some animals such as the leopard, which represents lust, the lion, pride and the wolf, greed, were taken up for said fashion representations.
The same brand explained that it was an "embroidered lion", created with hand-sculpted foam, synthetic wool and silk, painted manually to exalt its realism. They also explicitly clarified that "no animal had been harmed" for the making of these garments.
As if that were not enough, Schiaparelli and designer Daniel Roseberry showed the creative process behind these heads, which were worn by supermodels Irina Shayk, Shalom Harlow and Naomi Campbell.
PETA praises Schiaparelli's 'animal' designs
Even PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), one of the largest non-profit organizations on the planet, defended Schiaparelli's designs. In a statement issued via Page Six, animal rights association president Ingrid Newkirk said "three-dimensional animal heads" are "fabulously innovative."
“Kylie, Naomi and Irina's looks celebrate the beauty of wild animals and can be a statement against trophy hunting, in which lions and wolves are slaughtered to satisfy human selfishness,” Newkirk said.
“We encourage everyone to continue with 100% cruelty-free designs that show human ingenuity and prevent animal suffering,” the directive concluded.
