DRAMA QUEEN: Sean McGirr dialed up the drama with a theatrical runway show featuring a smoke-filled runway and Irish lore-filled looks.
It was the creative director’s second Paris Fashion Week outing.
Salma Hayek sat with husband and Kering chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault, as she showed off the cut of her gold sequined dress. It scooped low but had hidden panels that provided added coverage.
Hayek chalked the construction up to sartorial smarts.
“I would have never thought of it,” she said, categorizing McGirr’s looks as “dramatic, sophisticated, but within my comfort zone.”
Hayek had just finished a photo shoot earlier in the day showcasing the runway looks. “I kept so many things for my real life. Sometimes it’s exciting to find things that make you feel comfortable but have that extra ‘wow’ factor,” she said.
The actress has her pick of the company’s brands, but praised McGirr’s reinvention of the McQueen DNA.
She’ll start filming Romain Gavras’ “Sacrifice” in a fortnight with WWD Weekend cover star Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans and Vincent Cassel. Though French star Cassel plays her husband, the film will be in English.
It was the first time attending Paris Fashion Week for The Rose’s Woosung. The singer is about to launch a solo album and embark on a world tour, and he embraced the “grungy” vibe of McGirr’s McQueen.
Woosung at the McQueen Spring 2025 ready-to-wear show
Courtesy of McQueen/Dave Benett
“They had a couple of outfits for us to pick from, and we instantly picked this coat, which is so beautiful, a nice character,” he said, playing up the oversized faux fur’s vintage rock ’n’ roll style.
Getting ready with WWD earlier in the day, he divulged the complete look was from McGirr’s first collection, and featured a formfitting Henley, spiked accessories and some very intricate shoes.
His new album, titled “4444” moves the guitarist in an EDM direction, he said. “As a solo artist, I do love experimenting what I really like at the time, and this album really represents who I am right now, this minute. So I’m very excited for people to hear it.” It will drop Friday.
In the front row, Woosung was seated across from Cardi B, who has been making the most of her very busy fashion week, hitting up a show or two each day. Backstage she praised McGirr’s vision.
Cardi B at the McQueen Spring 2025 ready-to-wear show
Courtesy of McQueen/Dave Benett
“It was beautiful, it was dark, it was edgy,” she said, declaring a lace mesh dress with a high collar her favorite because she knew that it would look good on her body. “Give me 14 of them,” she joked.
McGirr said that he dug into the McQueen archives to find inspiration for the collection that touched on the Irish folklore of the banshee. The show was held in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, where they replicated the building’s original tiled floor only to crack it and insert a steel plated runway from artist Tom Scutt.
“There’s a lot of treasure in the archive,” said McGirr, including unused scraps of fabric and unreleased accessories. “I’m always looking at these little details and how we can bring them into the collection.”
Cardi B also loved the last look, a windswept silver sheath with intricate beading and a headdress. “I can tell it’s very, very heavy, but f–k it, it’s fashion. I’d wear it.”
— With contributions from Tianwei Zhang