Of all the celebrity cameos this Fashion Month, Avril Lavigne‘s emergence at the Paris shows was arguably the most surprising. (Her last involvement with Fashion Week was way back in 2013 when she presented her clothing line Abbey Dawn in New York.)
The pop punk princess made her debut at Courrèges and followed that up with front row seats at Lanvin, Dundas, Elie Saab, Stella McCartney before closing things off at the season’s last show: Y/Project. (She also showed face at the Christian Louboutin and Mugler parties, the latter of which she was spotted locking lips with Tyga.)
For her first PFW, she worked with Dominic West, whom she recently connected with through his agency DTL. “I was honored when she asked if I would take her to Paris,” he tells PAPER. “To which I said we’re not just going to go to Paris, we’re going to do a massive PFW takeover. And I can humbly say, I think we did!”
Photography by Lauren Dunn
Leading up to the big fashion image revamp, West says he and Lavigne wanted to be very intentional when it came to the looks, from styling to hair and makeup. (Her wardrobe ran the gamut from Vetements hoodies to looks from Dion Lee, Hermès and Vivienne Westwood.)
“I knew I didn’t want to change Avril and just throw a bunch of trendy pieces on her and have her sit in the front row of shows,” he says. “Instead I wanted to highlight the iconic elements of the superstar that she is and has always been and revamp her style with a more modernized and fashion forward approach.”
Lavigne’s reasoning for going to the Paris shows was pretty straightforward. “I attended Fashion Week because I am currently prepping for my upcoming European Tour in April,” she says. “I wanted to fully immerse myself in what some of my favorite established and up and coming designers were doing first hand.”
Photography by Lauren Dunn
West says the PFW debut is just the start of Lavigne’s new fashion revamp. “She has a lot of exciting projects taking place this year that’s she’s so excited about and her fans will definitely get to see more fashion and more boundary pushing from her.”
It also left Lavigne with plenty of new inspirations and ideas about her style going forward. “I left Paris feeling so inspired with a clear direction on how I see my style evolving,” she says. “It was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work went into being in the frenzy of Fashion Week and I look forward to attending next season.”
