PETA defends Schiaparelli’s fake (but life-like) animal-head fashion

Yesterday, Kylie Jenner turned up at the Schiaparelli show at Paris Fashion Week, wearing a preview piece from the new collection. The piece worn by Kylie was a black tube dress with a very realistic-looking lion’s head attached to the chest. The look went viral and people were very confused by it. I wrote that I found the look unsettling, even though I used logic to process the fact that Kylie wasn’t wearing a real lion’s head. Schiaparelli really created some very life-like (or trophy-like) pieces for the whole show, which included realistic-looking leopard and wolf’s head pieces too. So, what does PETA think about this mess? They’re all for it.

While Kylie Jenner’s wild look for Monday’s Schiaparelli Haute Couture show — a black velvet gown topped with a giant, lifelike lion head — might’ve seemed to be PETA’s worst nightmare at first glance, the animal rights organization is totally on board.

In a statement shared with Page Six Style, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk hailed the Schiaparelli collection’s “three-dimensional animal heads,” none of which incorporated real fur or leather, as “fabulously innovative.”

“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,” Newkirk said. In addition to a version of Jenner’s lion-inspired look, Schiaparelli’s spring 2023 couture collection also included outfits with realistic leopard and wolf heads modeled by Shalom Harlow and Naomi Campbell, respectively — a nod to the three beasts in Dante’s “Inferno.”

“We encourage everyone to stick with 100% cruelty-free designs that showcase human ingenuity and prevent animal suffering,” Newkirk concluded, urging Jenner and her fellow stars to “extend this creativity to exclude sheep shorn bloody for wool and silkworms boiled alive in their cocoons.”

[From Page Six]

If PETA is cool with it, then whatever. I get the artistry of the pieces and yes, they are extremely life-like. They really do look like real “trophies.” I guess that’s the point – why kill these beautiful animals when you could get fakes which look so f–king real?

Irina Shayk walked the Schiaparelli runway and she defended the collection too.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram.

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34 Responses to “PETA defends Schiaparelli’s fake (but life-like) animal-head fashion”

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  1. mtos says:

    Why do you need to wear an animals head, fur, tail, etc. whether it’s real or fake. I’m glad it’s a fake trophy but totally unnecessary.

  2. girl_ninja says:

    Good pub for Schiaparelli I suppose. I still find Kylie’s face off putting when not filtered to high heaven.

  3. Mireille says:

    Sorry I don’t get the appeal. I love to look and comment on fashion, but this whole lion head outfit makes me cringe. It smacks of trophy hunting no matter what PETA says. I don’t even like animal print. And, on a minor note, it gives Kylie exactly what she wanted…more publicity for herself.

    • mtos says:

      Totally agree. It’s gross. Fake or not it makes wearing animals look appealing.

      • HoofRat says:

        The effect would have been much less unsettling if the heads were considerably smaller, and were somehow tied into the dress design. It literally looks as if a trophy was pulled off the wall and randomly velcroed to a boring black column dress. Elsa would not be impressed, I fear.

      • tealily says:

        @hoofrat I think it’s supposed to be unsettling.

  4. equality says:

    Might be okay if it looked like it belonged on the dress instead of being black dress with lion’s head attached. It just looks stupid. And, no, it won’t decrease trophy hunting.

    • Concern Fae says:

      This. The proportions are completely wrong. It’s like they had a sketch, made the head, but when a live person put the dress on, it didn’t work. Too late to make another head and Kylie got stuck wearing it.

  5. Nanny to the Rescue says:

    I said it before. I see no difference between this and a leopard skin print. (Or other fake animal prints.)

    But I also have to add: The lion dress looks much better than the wolf one. At least it’s got shape and the lion looks like a weird accessory. The wolf one looks like she’s literally wearing a whole dead wolf.

    • Ameerah M says:

      I agree. And people walk around with faux fur in their boots, coat, etc. It’s no different. As long as it’s fake I don’t see the issue.

      • Robert Phillips says:

        The issue is that its going to make other people who can’t afford these fakes buy real ones. That’s the problem. Plus their just ugly. And no they don’t look real.

      • Ameerah M says:

        That’s silly. What will ACTUALLY happen is that these will be knockoffs and people will buy those. No one who is anti-fur will suddenly magically decide to buy and wear real animal and animal fur. As for them being ugly ….that’s n opinion and we all have one.

      • Jesma says:

        You think a real lion’s head will be cheaper. Hahahaha. Real fur is more expensive than faux fur. Real leather is more expensive than pleather. I can’t even imagine the cost of an actual lion’s head. Not to mention the process of preserving it for use in a dress. Also it would be so heavy that it would pull your dress right off.

      • Nanny to the Rescue says:

        I’m with Ameerah M on this. I don’t know how much a real lion’s head would cost, but a life-like copy like this isn’t cheap, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more expensive, actually.

        But faux fur isn’t necessarily cheaper than real one. Depends on the fur. There have been scandals when clothes manufacturers used real fur claiming it’s fake, because it was so much cheaper and it couldn’t be sold otherwise due to lack of demand.

        Not sure if I’m allowed to link to articles here, so a quote from HSI: “Through extensive research, HSI UK has discovered that many animal fur items for sale in the UK, especially in independent boutiques, in markets and online, are either not labelled at all, or are incorrectly labelled or marketed as synthetic.”

        Better to avoid animal-looking products in general if you have a serious stance on this issue.

      • whatWHAT? says:

        “The issue is that its going to make other people who can’t afford these fakes buy real ones.”

        wow, you really typed that out and hit “submit”, huh? bless your heart.

  6. tealily says:

    I was grossed out when I thought it was real. I think it’s kinda cool and dramatic now that I know that it’s fake!

  7. EmpressCakey says:

    This just further promotes trophy hunting unfortunately. Making it “cool” to wear an animal head just makes more people want real animal heads.
    But they did do an amazing job with the realism.

  8. Ceej says:

    I’m confused because that IG calls out how well it’s been made from wool, silk and foam…

    And PETA say they support the design as it somehow doesn’t immediately remind people of trophy hunting heads on a wall but the actual creatures (lol) but then also say they should stop using wool and silk for their animal impact.

    I don’t get the fashion industry. I’ll just be over here trying my best to check why everything is polyester because I feel guilty about micro plastics. (£20 or £200 – same polyester)

  9. Nanny to the Rescue says:

    I just noticed the golden toes shoes. I think that’s even worse than the animals, heh.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Those gold ‘toe’ shoes are hideous. I also couldn’t help but notice–Irina is standing there in heels while the tailor taking her measurements is in comfy sneakers. They’re both standing there for the same amount of time, but only one gets to protect their feet. Granted, Irina gets the bigger paycheck, but she’s going to need it for future visits to podiatrists & orthopedists.

  10. Emmi says:

    I mean I don’t think it’s particularly stylish but maybe I’m just a peasant. It looks … macabre. But as long as it’s not made from animals in any way, I don’t see how we need to sh*t on it. We don’t need Kylie Jenner wearing a fake lion head to “promote” the consumption of animals or the hunting of endangered species. That sh*t just promotes itself, unfortunately. I’ve been asked why I still wear leather shoes and bags if I’m now choosing not to buy leather anymore. Well, because I already own them. “People will think you’re fine with it.” People don’t look to me for fashion inspiration. LOL

  11. lunchcoma says:

    I don’t think there’s anything morally wrong with it or anything, but I don’t think it works anywhere but a runway or the Met Gala. Leopard print clothing is still shaped like clothing. Wearing an enormous stuffed head on your chest is something…different.

  12. Greter says:

    Simply looks super tacky and kind of brutal. Parading around the head of something (or someone) always shows some kind of power over the defeated.

    • BeanieBean says:

      I am reminded of watching all these great B&W movies from the 1930s, where society ladies frequently wore entire dead animals, or connecting dead animals, around their shoulders near their faces. I could never figure out why you’d want a dead animal head or butt near your face, with its feet dangling down your body. Just really weird. This lion dress reminds me of that. Real or not–and I get it, it’s not–it’s just hideous.

  13. tisme says:

    It is literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Whyyyyy?

  14. Claire says:

    Kylie seriously needs to stop messing with her face. She has aged herself by 20 years. It’s tragic to think about what she will look like when she’s 50.

  15. ooshpick says:

    UG! as in ugly!

  16. Nanea says:

    Beauty and the Beast, but Kylie got it mixed up? 🤔

    Even if the lion’s head 🦁 is fake, this Schiaparelli colonialism stunt by Kylie reminds me of Kendull’s Pepsi ad in its tonedeafness.

    Those kids have form when it comes to displaying more money than sense.

  17. Kirsten says:

    Honestly I love the lion dress, but I wish they’d given it to someone else to wear to the show.

  18. Rea says:

    This is ecological waste. Why do celebrities keep wasting so much money on new things that create fads so people can be encouraged to continue to hurt the planet in a tactless way. Fake fur is dangerous to our planet and should not be encouraged to wear.