Miranda Priestly made a stunning appearance at Paris Fashion Week, sort of.
British drag queen and SFX artist Alexis Stone pulled off yet another jaw-dropping transformation for the Balenciaga couture show at Paris Couture Week on Wednesday, June 26. Of course, there was no better place for Stone to fully channel Meryl Streep’s iconic character from the 2006 film, The Devil Wears Prada, than Paris, France.
She arrived at the event in full prosthetic makeup to resemble the magazine editor, complete with Streep’s signature white, short-haired wig and sunglasses. Stone’s ensemble consisted of a taupe satin blouse with a pussy bow, a tan trench coat, and a black pencil skirt. Her Priestly-inspired look even came with a prop – a replica of “the book,” a mockup of the fictional Runway magazine’s issue, tucked under her arm.
The makeup artist later detailed the lengths she went to in order to achieve the uncanny resemblance in a video posted to her Instagram. The clip showed Stone laying the prosthetic pieces, which were sculpted by Millenium FX’s Neil Gordon, onto her face before applying makeup. She then adjusted the pixie cut wig, and posed for the camera in Priestly’s classicly unimpressed expression while holding a flip phone up to her ear.
“We started working on the Miranda Priestly for @balenciaga 2024 Couture transformation three months ago,” Stone revealed in the post’s caption. “Here’s the video from the first makeup test we did. Thank you Demna, the team and of course Meryl Streep.”
In an interview with British Vogue published on Wednesday, Stone shared the inspiration behind deciding to emulate the beloved fictional character for Balenciaga’s couture show in Paris.
“Fashion is built up of a lot of gay guys like me,” Stone told the outlet. “We’re enamored not only by women but female villains, because I think we see a lot of ourselves in them. Sure, Miranda isn’t the kindest editor in the world, but I can tell you that there are nuances in Streep’s characterization that I have seen time and time again throughout fashion. The film resonates for a reason.”
Stone explained that she had initially decided with Demna Gvasalia, the creative director of Balenciaga, to appear as Priestly for this year’s Met Gala. However, she said “there were forces above that prohibited” them from achieving the stunt.
“It was only a matter of time until we took her to couture week,” she added. “Most people at a fashion show are focused on looking their best, but I want to look like someone else.”
In order to achieve the full Priestly aesthetic, Gordon worked on the prosthetics while the wigs, contacts, and clip-in veneers were being crafted. Meanwhile, Stone does her own research on the character she intends to portray leading up to the event.
“I pull tons of references and I try to get my hands on as many as the ‘originals’ as possible. I’ll always ask permission from the artist I’m paying homage to, and that helps to make the impossible possible,” she said, revealing that she even got her hands on the original sunglasses Streep wore in the film.
“I’m not a lookalike and I’m not trying to replace these people. I just want to highlight what can be done with the best production,” Stone said.
The artist has been known to pull some stunning transformations in the past. In February 2023, Stone went “undercover” as Jennifer Coolidge for Milan Fashion Week. Dressed head-to-toe in Diesel cargo jeans and biker jacket, Stone achieved Coolidge’s signature facial expressions with the help of prosthetics. At the event, she even sat front row next to actor Haley Lu Richardson, who starred alongside Coolidge in The White Lotus season two. In the HBO series, Richardson played Portia, the personal assistant to Coolidge’s character, Tanya McQuoid.
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