You never know who you might spot at Paris Fashion Week. Just this week Euphoria star Zendaya made an appearance at Valentino, Squid Games star and model Jung Ho-yeon walked the runway at Louis Vuitton, and Mrs Doubtfire watched the latest offerings from Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga.
Yes, you read that right.
The beloved character, originally portrayed by the late Robin Williams in the 1993 movie Mrs Doubtfire, made an appearance at the Balenciaga Womenswear Fall/Winter 2022/2023 show wearing a black satin dress with dripping blue peonies and a pair of metallic knee-high boots - both from Balenciaga, of course.
@michcoll Alexis stone arriving to PFW as Mrs. Doubtfire pic.twitter.com/0canmKneML
— Calla Bonanno (@hellocalla) March 6, 2022
The face beneath the prosthetics was that of a Alexis Stone (aka Elliot Joseph Rentz), a British drag queen and professional "transformer". The Brighton-born entertainer has garnered a huge following thanks to their ability to reconstruct their image and transform themselves into monstrous creations or celebrity lookalikes.
This isn't Stone's first time dressing as the iconic comedic character. The strict but fair British nanny appealed to Rentz from a young age as one of the only mainstream examples of drag on screen at the time.
Mrs Doubtfire after getting a paycheck from her ex wife pic.twitter.com/LMmmPjidPX
— Yann (@yannhatchuel) March 6, 2022
They told PAPER magazine: "Before drag, my only exposure to transformations was Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire and monsters in films. I was mesmerized by the makeup process even at a young age."
During the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stone collaborated with Creative Director Demna Gvasalia to create a Euphegenia x Balenciaga photoshoot and documentary, directed by Stone and photographer Liam Heely. You can watch it on YouTube here.
With an invite to Paris Fashion Week on the table, Stone decided that it was time to recreate the look with the hope of giving people a reason to smile.
Womenswear Fall/Winter show struck a chord with many as the concept drew from Demna's Georgian heritage and shone a light on the on-going invasion of Ukraine.
A note given to those attending the show read: "The war in Ukraine has triggered the pain of a past trauma I have carried in me since 1993, when the same thing happened to my home country and I became a forever refugee."
Acknowledging the juxtaposition of her eye-catching outfit in relation to the serious concept of the show, Stone said:
"It isn't the most appropriate thing, but that also comes at a time that we, as artists, have to try and not distract, but use that little bit of magic to make people smile."
