Ooh la la: Lorde’s Miu Miu appearance at Paris Fashion Week stirs surprise

Lorde attends the Miu Miu show at Paris Fashion Week on March 5, 2024. Photo / Getty Images

Miu Miu’s Paris Fashion Week show delivered an array of surprises, from Kiwi Grammy-winner Lorde and Dame Kristin Scott Thomas making her runway debut.

Lorde joined a star-filled crowd at the Miu Miu show during Paris Fashion Week, wearing a head-to-toe toe outfit from the brand; a bookish and quirky look, befitting her public persona and the label’s current tenor.

It was a rare public appearance from the Grammy-winner; Ella Yelich-O’Connor keeps a famously low profile, eschewing social media — preferring to communicate with fans via newsletter — and savvily dodging the spotlight, and choosing when to step into it.

Every now and then she resurfaces, most recently in the bath tub, wearing a timely pair of AirPods Max headphones, which suggested she was tuned into — or tuning out — something. This has buoyed speculation of a new album or creative project.

Popping up in Paris was unexpected too.

Lorde outside the Miu Miu show at Paris Fashion Week. Photo / Getty Images

It’s made headlines, including W Magazine, WWD, Marie Claire, Glamour, as did her newly dark hair.

Not usually one to be plonked front row at a show — unlike most celebrities who have made this kind of exposure business as usual — O’Connor was attending Miu Miu’s autumn-winter 2023 fashion show.

The runway saw big names too, with Dame Kristin Scott Thomas, 63, making her catwalk debut.

Actor Dame Kristin Scott Thomas walks the runway during the Miu Miu show at Paris Fashion Week on March 5, 2024. Photo / Getty Images

The Italian label is a sister brand to Prada and is designed by Miuccia Prada, considered by many to be the most influential woman in fashion.

Recent seasons have seen a surge in popularity thanks to a canny approach to ranging, and designs nailing zeitgeist-y items. A commercial assortment, alongside Prada’s trademark quirk, has found virality for a new generation of audience.

The brand has also embraced celebrity talent in a strategic way, establishing relationships with certain stars, choosing select ambassadors, dressing a who’s-who of household names and emerging talent, and of course the all-important product seeding.

Campaign faces have included Emma Corrin, Zaya Wade and Mia Goth — who join an alumnus of big names like Chloe Sevigny (1996 and 2012) and Drew Barrymore (1995) — and the brand’s wider orbit includes Troye Sivan, FKA Twigs and Uma Thurman.

Joining Yelich-O’Connor at the show in Paris this week were fellow music stars Little Simz, Jan Won-young (Wonyoung) and Angel Haze, actors Sydney Sweeney and Aja Naomi King, content creators Emma Chamberlain and Qin Huilan (who also appeared on the runway), model of the year Paloma Elsesser, journalist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, and brand ambassador Corrin in a striking red tracksuit.

Emma Gleason is the New Zealand Herald’s lifestyle and entertainment deputy editor. Based in Auckland, she covers culture, fashion and media.