SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE: H&M drew a starry front row to its annual catwalk extravaganza in Paris, which involved a diverse crop of models, a towering fake tree and a live choir singing to an original soundtrack by Nicolas Godin of Air.
Guests including Emma Roberts, Suki Waterhouse, Kate Mara, Ciara, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Jamie Bell and Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis gathered at the Bourse du Commerce, which was plunged in darkness, except for the light bouncing off a gold plinth on which the ash-covered tree was perched.
“The setting is a little bit mystical,” Ann-Sofie Johansson, creative adviser to H&M, said backstage. “I think we wanted to have that feeling because we started with the Swedish heritage and Swedish icons like Ingrid Bergman, but also Ingmar Bergman, which is quite moody.”
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The model lineup was an ode to diversity, ranging from industry veteran Pat Cleveland (whose daughter Anna also walked in the show) to Amber Valletta, Natasha Poly, Sports Illustrated cover girl Ashley Graham and transgender models Andreja Pejić and Hari Nef.
The H&M Studio collection, which will be available in 200 stores worldwide and online from Sept. 8, was heavy on shearling and python jackets, haute hippie dresses and mannish tailored suits.
The outfits were paired with long fringed headscarves or wide-brimmed hats, as well as thigh-high boots that proved treacherous in combination with the polished stone floor, as more than one model took a tumble during the finale.
Before the show, Roberts posed up a storm with Waterhouse. The two star together in the upcoming “Billionaire Boys Club,” about a group of wealthy boys in Los Angeles during the early Eighties whose schemes eventually lead to murder.
“We loved getting to wear all the fun Eighties clothes every day at work,” said Roberts, whose character dates Ansel Elgort in the movie. “The aesthetic is, like, cool Eighties, not cheesy Eighties. It was fun to get to dress up in that time period, and there were lots of party scenes where we’d be dancing to Eighties music.”
Ciara, meanwhile, was still buzzing from busting out some dance moves of her own on the streets of Lagos. The singer took advantage of a recent trip to Nigeria to visit a school and shoot an impromptu video that shows her performing some tricky routines with a group of local dancers.
“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” she enthused. “That’s kind of my way of sharing my respect and appreciation to Nigeria, to Africa, because every time I go there, it’s always a hard pill to swallow when you see the reality of how the impoverished families live.”
Mara has also been putting herself in the place of someone less fortunate: She recently finished shooting “Megan Leavey,” based on the real-life story of the Iraq War hero of the same name, who was injured with her combat dog Rex.
“I have two dogs, so the story really spoke to me, just on a level of, you know, love for an animal and how much they actually bring into your life,” Mara said.
Day-Lewis was gearing up for the release of his second single, “True,” on March 25. The son of Daniel Day-Lewis and Isabelle Adjani has been racking up modeling campaigns and has just been announced as the face of Paco Rabanne’s Black XS Los Angeles fragrance alongside Sky Ferreira.