When Fashion Becomes Armor

When Timothée Chalamet hit the Dune: Part Two red carpet in Paris tonight, the actor’s black Givenchy suit wasn’t punctuated with your standard dress shirt and tie. Rather, he rocked a silver metal breastplate. Part fashion statement, part fashion armor, the structural top lent a futuristic feel to the whole look; the breastplate was actually inspired by similar styles from Givenchy’s fall 2018 couture collection.

Chalamet isn’t the first star to lean into an armored look on the red carpet. Over the past few years, it’s been an increasing—and unexpected—trend on the step and repeat. Zendaya was an early adopter of the look back in 2020, when the Euphoria star broke the internet in a molded pink Tom Ford breastplate. “[The Tom Ford team] came to my house, and I stood topless in my living room while they had this machine that scanned my boobs,” Zendaya told Vogue about the now-iconic look. More recently, last year, Lupita Nyong’o donned a molded silver cast of her own body to the Tony Awards, made by the Pakistani designer Misha Japanwala. And at the Super Bowl last year, Rihanna also donned a molded red breastplate by Loewe, styled with her jumpsuit and Alaïa puffer. Fellow stars like Jennifer Lopez and Sydney Sweeney have also slipped into fashion metallic breastplates, too.

Photo: Getty Images

Armored fashion is clearly trending, but why? At its core, an armored breastplate is a piece of protective gear; It makes the wearer feel safe from danger. If we contextualize this in Hollywood, there could be some theories as to why stars are embracing it—especially on the carpet.

When stars hit a step and repeat, after all, every detail of their look is dissected—for better or for worse. Scrutiny comes with the spotlight, and wearing armor can be a defense mechanism; a way to proverbially keep the haters and internet troll away. A breastplate also evokes feelings of strength and at home in one’s skin—two traits that are basically a must for owning a red carpet in front of hundreds of paparazzos aggressively screaming your name. But these are all esoteric reasonings. Perhaps these A-listers simply love the look of armor because, well, it looks cool, and makes a bold statement.