Kylie Jenner Stirs Controversy in Dramatic Life-Sized Lion's Head Gown

Daniel S. Levine

01/23/2023 09:45 pm EST

Paris Fashion Week is underway, which means photos of stars wearing intricate outfits are coming at a furious pace. Kylie Jenner already made her statement at the Schiaparelli Spring-Summer 2023 show over the weekend, wearing a black gown with a life-size lion head as a broch. Although the lion's head was not real, it still caused a buzz on social media.

Jenner, 25, wore a strapless, fitted black velvet gown that was almost completely covered by the giant lion broch. It looked very life-like, and took attention away from the black Schiaparelli sling-back shoes she wore that featured golden toes. Jenner shared pictures of the look on her Instagram page, where she thanked Schiaparelli creative director Daniel Roseberry. Likely sensing that the look could cause some controversy, Jenner made sure to point out that the lion head was completely manmade.

"BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. thank you [Roseberry] and [Schiaparelli] for such a special morning," Jenner wrote. "Wow, I loved wearing this faux art creation constructed by hand using manmade materials. Beautiful beautiful."

'Is Kylie wearing Aslan from Narnia?'

Rosenberry's new collection was inspired by Dante's Inferno and the nine circles of hell, according to the show notes obtained by CNN. He sees Inferno as a metaphor for the doubt and creative torment artists experience before putting their work on display. While Jenner and Irina Shayk wore the lion dress, Naomi Campbell modeled a boxy, black faux fur coat with a wolf's head. Shalom Harlow wore a strapless leopard tube dress with a feline head emerging from the front.

'Creepy!'

Rosenberry hoped the costumes inspired fear. "Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso: One cannot exist without the other," he wrote 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."

'This is disgusting'

Between her big fashion moments, Jenner and ex-boyfriend Travis Scott are raising their two children, Stormi Webster, 4, and Arie, who turns 1 next month. Arie was born in February 2022 and was first named Wolf Jacques. A month later, Jenner said Wolf was no longer his name. A source told PEOPLE that Arie means "Lion of God," which gives Jenner's look in Paris a new meaning.

PETA praises the look

(Photo: Marc Piasecki/WireImage/Getty Images)

PETA surprisingly praised the look. "Kylie's look celebrates lions' beauty and may be a statement against trophy hunting, in which lion families are torn apart to satisfy human egotism," PETA president Ingrid Newkirk told TMZ.

Irina Shayk defends the lion-head dress

Shayk defended the dress by praising the artists behind the fake lion head. "I support these incredible artists who worked tirelessly, with their hands, using wool, silk, and foam, to sculpt this embroidered Lion, and image of Pride, An image that [Schiaparelli] invokes while exploring themes of strength," she wrote. "I am honored to have been called on as well to lend my art as a woman to this [Roseberry]."

'It's a no for me'

"It's a NO for me…when these beautiful creatures are actually being hunted we probably shouldn't glamorize it," one fan wrote on Instagram. "I thought animal cruelty was out [of] fashion... Real or not it looks soo wrong," another commented. "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should," another wrote.

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