Ambitious Fashion Students Stage a Stand-In At Stella McCartney’s Spring 2016 Show

Photo: Instagram/badass16

An eclectic cast of celebrities sat in the front of Stella McCartney’s Spring 2016 show: Salma Hayek, Maria Sharapova, Rhys Ifans, Suki Waterhouse, Mario Testino, and MIA, who told Yahoo Style: “Stella is my friend, I like supporting her shows.” The singer, who was wearing a giant white faux fur coat from McCartney’s last season, confessed she was getting “very hot” from the glare of the lights.

But soon enough all went dark and the designer proceeded to send out a bold range of looks. There were floor-length plaid dresses, bright pleated strapless dresses with plaid underlay, suits that featured cutouts on the back of the blazers, and a series of yellow and blue asymmetrical dresses that had Waterhouse gushing. “I absolutely love that kind of fabric, you can move around in it a bit, but it’s sexy and tight,” said the model-slash-actress.

Unbeknownst to McCartney, the designer had a group of admirers outside the venue as well. Positioned on the steps and blocking the exit were about 20 young women, both fashion students and models. They were dressed in their own creations in the hopes of impressing the designer, or perhaps with one of the high-ranking editors or stylists filing out of the show.

They were from Studio Ber?ot, the city’s most prestigious fashion school, and they were looking for jobs. “We want to work,” said ringleader Gabrielle Huele, who was wearing a deconstructed black dress with a handkerchief hat. She admitted that they had been working on this stunt for months, and even did street castings to find models to wear their clothes. “We can’t afford to rent studios so we just wanted to show everyone our designs,“ explained Huele of the stand-in. The collective’s name? Badass 16, naturally. “Find us on Instagram,” she told anyone who asked.