Hunter Schafer is my favorite weird girl fashion muse. When an avant-garde look needs to be served off-runway, she is the perfect woman for the job. Frankly, her press tours for Cuckoo and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes set the bar for ambitious red carpet dressing in recent years. She was the first to wear Maison Margiela's slouchy sweater and fringe corset dress combo after it debuted in the label's Spring 2024 couture collection. And who could forget the ornate Marni flower dress she pulled from the brand's Spring 2024 show?
Now, Schafer and stylist Dara Allen have done it again at Paris Couture Week. On Jan. 29, the Euphoria star showed up to Jean Paul Gaultier's Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2025 runway wearing an outfit that somehow evoked both French nobility and early 2010s Charlotte Russe. Her ensemble opens with a sheer white lace matching set comprised of a long-sleeved peplum top with a short train trailing behind it and a set of matching capri pants with ruffles at the hem.
The issue we really need to discuss, though, are those shoes: a freaky pair of open-toed booties with a stiletto heel and cut-outs climbing up her calf. Am I dreaming, or do those open-toed booties feel like something Snooki would have absolutely worn to the club on an episode of Jersey Shore circa 2012? Not since Kylie Jenner's taupe Tumblr manicure have I experienced a millennial jumpscare quite like this.
And that's not at all. What really takes this nostalgic look to the next level are the crispy-crunchy waves that graced Schafer's head. In middle school, I got up early every morning to give my mane the exact same treatment: an hour of flat iron styling conducted entirely without heat protectant, followed by a generous halo of hair spray to really lock in the effect.
Hunter Schafer's take on millennial pastiche may not be for everyone, but you'll never catch me complaining. For better or worse, her outfits always make me feel something. Isn't that what couture is all about?
