Ezra Miller Walks Red Carpet in a Puffer Coat Gown
“I don’t identify as a man. I don’t identify as a woman. I barely identify as a human.”
“I don’t identify as a man. I don’t identify as a woman. I barely identify as a human,” Ezra Miller told The Hollywood Reporter in a profile published earlier this week. Fashion has always had the power to bolster identity, queer or otherwise, and if Miller was looking for a garment to express that he was beyond the traditional, narrow confines of gender (if not basic humanity), well, he found it in the full-length puffer-coat gown he wore on Thursday night during the premiere of the Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in Paris.
Though the outfit looks somewhat confining, it didn’t hamper Miller from signing autographs for fans or mingling with the rest of the Fantastic Beasts cast. His magically inclined costar Eddie Redmayne, in particular, was quite impressed by the fit. He greeted Miller with a hug, and was so overcome by the sartorial statement that he had to step back, take another glance, and readjust his own tie.
American actor and singer Ezra Miller signs autographs as he arrives for the premier of the fantasy film ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald’ in Paris on November 8, 2018. (Photo by Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT / AFP) (Photo credit should read GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP/Getty Images)
The garment comes from the Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli’s recent collaboration with the Italian sportswear label Moncler as part of their new Geniuses program. Piccioli reimagined Moncler’s iconic puffer jackets as a series of columnlike, near-monastic gowns in a variety of colors. Though the collection was originally shown on a cast of female models, their unisex appeal didn’t go unnoticed. In W’s recent exploration of postapocalyptic style, the photographer Tim Walker and stylist Sarah Moonves put white versions of the collection on a mixed-gender cast.
1 Moncler Pierpaolo Piccioli clothing and puffer gloves; David Samuel Menkes Custom Leatherwear gloves.
While designers who traditionally produce women’s wear have dabbled in garments that blur the gender spectrum, men’s wear is only now catching up. There certainly seems to be a demand for it as well. Miller is just one of a growing number of young celebrities who may be mostly cast in male roles onscreen, but aren’t so eager to identify strictly as male offscreen or on the red carpet. The 13 Reasons Why star Tommy Dorfman and Love, Simon standout Keiynan Lonsdale are certainly pushing boundaries as well. However, with major parts in two megafranchises, the DC Universe and Fantastic Beasts, Miller may be the most high-profile. Indeed, the appearance comes in the same week that Miller’s eye-popping spread for GQ Style also went viral.
Related: Five Minutes With Ezra Miller
