Look of the Week: FKA Twigs brings dystopian chic to Paris

(CNN) — Cult American designer Rick Owens transformed his Paris Fashion Week set into an industrial dystopian futurescape on Thursday, with models walking in platform boots, wide-collared jackets and visor-like wraparound sunglasses.

Amid the exaggerated sci-fi silhouettes, however, the afternoon’s most avant-garde look was arguably not on the runway, but on the star-studded front row.

Singer FKA Twigs cut an otherworldly figure as she arrived with a part-shaven bouffant, signature bleached eyebrows and an array of — presumably temporary — face tattoos.

The English pop star’s bold neo-gothic outfit comprised items from previous Owens collections, including tinted glasses, a rust-colored minidress and a shearling jacket. More eye-catching still were the $6,000 over-the-knee Rhino Cargoflare boots (from Owens’ Fall-Winter 2024 collection) that moved like the bellows of an accordion as she ascended the steps at Paris’ historic Palais de Tokyo.

Online commentators noted that the musician’s look would not look amiss in movies like “The Fifth Element” and “Mad Max.” “FKA Twigs slays the fashion game every time she attends a Rick Owens event,” wrote one X user.

With its distinctly grungy aesthetic, Owens’ eponymous label is an obvious fit for FKA Twigs, a celebrity known for her edgy, goth-inspired style. The 37-year-old, who has modeled for Calvin Klein and Swiss running brand On, is a regular fixture at the designer’s shows.

She is also frequently seen wearing his creations, and in a Spotify interview released earlier this week, she even made a point of highlighting an on-set stool selected from Owens’ furniture collection. Owens’ partner and muse Michèle Lamy meanwhile appeared in a short film accompanying the singer’s EP “M3LL155X” in 2015.

FKA Twigs has chosen major fashion events to promote her music before, using a 2023 performance at Italian label Valentino’s Paris Fashion Week show to debut new song “Unearth Me.” And the timing of this week’s head-turning appearance was perhaps no coincidence, coming just a day before the release of her new album, “Eusexua.”

Yet, far from being overshadowed by the star’s appearance, Owens enjoyed plenty of additional attention for his new designs — in particular, a pair of knee-high boots heaving with a plume of feathery leather strips.

The designer said his Fall-Winter 2025 line, dubbed “Concordians,” was inspired by the industrial Italian town of Concordia sulla Secchia, where the label manufactures its wares. In his Paris show notes, Owens recalled sleeping on a couch in the factory office for five years to “immerse” himself in “the rhythm of an industrial production schedule.”

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