Bad Bunny loves Schiaparelli. Earlier this year, the Puerto Rican artist took home Album of the Year at the Grammys wearing custom Schiaparelli menswear, and today (July 6), he’s showing his support for the brand once again, sitting front row at its AW26 couture show. 

Benito arrived at Paris’ Petit Palais wearing a butter yellow double-breasted suit and a blonde, trompe l’oeil braided hair tie, before taking a seat next to his younger brother, Bernie Martínez Ocasio. Two seats down, Michelle Yeoh and Emma Corrin (dressed as a Schiap bird of paradise) chatted away. 

Bad Bunny’s appearance breaks up his groundbreaking, sold-out world tour, which stopped in Paris last Friday. He doesn’t perform again until this Friday, which means, with any luck, the rapper might stick around for a few more couture shows (fingers crossed for Chanel tomorrow). 

This morning’s show kicked off the AW26 couture season in the French capital, and as he always does, creative director Daniel Roseberry pulled out all the stops. As a key figure in the surrealist movement, Elsa Schiaparelli’s designs often included optical illusions and collaborations with artists such as Salvador Dalí and Leonor Fini. In keeping with that spirit, Roseberry’s vision for the brand has always leaned into its trompe l'oeil DNA – things are never what they seem at Schiaparelli. 

This season, the American designer swapped satin and velvet for silicone, creating full busts from clay before casting them in the rubbery material – modelled by Amelia Gray and Karlie Kloss during the show. “We did this humanoid, Prometheus-inspired bodice, which is the shape of the corset,” Roseberry explained. “It’s an augmented version of reality.” At the back of the bodice, the silicone is pierced with eyelets to create the illusion of a spine. 

Standout looks from the show, titled The Abyss, looked like they’d been recovered from the ocean floor. There were inky-black latex looks that sprouted bouncing tentacles, resembling The Little Mermaid’s glamorous villain, Ursula, whose design was inspired by legendary drag queen, Divine. Then there were the glowing, light-up looks, like bioluminescent deep sea fish. Other gowns were spiked like purple sea urchins, while oyster decorations created a deliberately yonic look. Maybe, for Roseberry’s next show, we’ll see Bad Bunny become Bad Octopus.