Irina Shayk Defends Controversial Schiaparelli Animal Head Dress

Monday’s Schiaparelli show in Paris really caused a stir.

Creative director Daniel Roseberry sent some of his models down the runway wearing life-size and lifelike animal heads on their dresses. She even gave Kylie Jenner her own gown to wear front row at the event.

And while the animal heads are all man-made and don’t include fur, they have had quite a bit of discussion about what they represent. Irina Shayk, who wore one of the lion heads on the runway, stood up for the fashion house amid the backlash.

“I support these incredible artists who worked tirelessly, with their hands, using wool, silk and foam, to sculpt this embroidered Lion, and the image of Pride, an image @schiaparelli called upon while exploring the theme of strength,” he wrote in Instagramadding that he was “honored to have been called” to be a part of the show.

Schiaparelli’s show animal head includes not only lions, but also wolves and snow leopards worn by Naomi Campbell and Shalom Harlow.

Jenner demonstrated in a Instagram flaunting the dress that the lion is realistic is a “fake art creation”, but many commenters on her post and on Shayk’s called for the design to promote trophy hunting of the animal, regardless of dress.

PETA shared the video on Instagram of the event, praising Schiaparelli for taking the first step towards animal-friendly garments but asking the fashion house to take “creativity” even further to become a true vegan.

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In a statement provided to PEOPLE, the organization continued on with those thoughts, saying, “The ‘heads’ adorning this outfit look so realistic it’s no surprise the Schiaparelli collection caused an uproar. PETA is grateful that the show sparked such a powerful conversation about trophy-hunting violence and the cruelty associated with the materials in these pieces that were actually stolen from animals: wool and silk.”

Schiaparelli reiterated on Instagram in all caps that no animal was harmed in creating the realistic animal heads for the show. They were created from “hand-sculpted foam, faux silk wool and fur, and hand-painted to look as real as possible,” the fashion house added pieces inspired by the three beasts at Dante’s. Hell.

Supermodel Christie Brinkley joined in on the debate, commenting on one of Schiaparelli’s debates Instagram to refer to the pieces as “FAUX fashion ‘PAW.'” He called the designs “sickening”, adding that animal skins are “a symbol of human cruelty and ignorance.”