At the Daily Front Row Fashion Awards, the pop icon turned heads in surreal McQueen, blending historical grandeur with pop-star rebellion.
By Celebrity Editorial Staff
When Chappell Roan declared at Thursday night’s Daily Front Row Fashion Awards that she “didn’t want to be pretty all the time” according to The Hollywood Reporter, but instead wanted to “look weird,” she wasn’t just talking—she was living it. Swathed in a gold metallic sunflower jacquard dress from McQueen’s Autumn–Winter 2025 collection, the pop provocateur rewrote the evening’s dress code in one theatrical sweep.
With its pleated collar arcing dramatically around her jawline and obscuring her mouth, Roan became a surreal character. “Nobody in the room could see my mouth,” she quipped mid-speech, her words muffled by design. The dress’s architectural sleeves and metallic organza shimmered under the chandeliers like polished armor, while ivory floral lace tights added a delicate counterpoint. It was part Victorian mourning gown, part space-age relic—a perfect contradiction.
Her signature flame-red hair, blown out in loose, romantic waves, completed the visual—conjuring a rebellious Pre-Raphaelite heroine reimagined by Seán McGirr. Roan’s love affair with high-concept fashion has been deepening since her much-memed appearances at Paris Fashion Week last month, where she sat front row at Chloé and Valentino. But it’s McQueen that now seems to channel her energy best: theatrical, defiant, and utterly unafraid.
The night marked a full-circle moment between Roan and her stylist Genesis Webb, whom she was there to honor as Music Stylist of the Year. With a refreshing lack of polish that drew raucous laughter from a star-studded crowd—including Tyra Banks and Hailey Bieber—Roan recalled their first chaotic meeting:
We were in a Toyota Camry—she’s dressing me in a ball gown. Didn’t know this bitch — at all. I’m naked, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in a Camry. It was not chill.
In that one moment, the pristine illusion of celebrity styling unraveled, and Roan’s voice rang through—funny, unfiltered, and fiercely human. “I thought fashion was really exclusive,” she continued. “Like, I didn’t even know what Urban Outfitters was or whatever. Genesis taught me that a girl in music can feel like a supermodel.”
Webb’s acceptance speech was equally emotional. She praised Roan for “redefining what pop can look like,” calling their partnership “a journey from chaos to couture.” She added, “The fact that we’re both here today is just really crazy—because a year ago, it was really different.”
The evening served up more iconic moments—Betsey Johnson doing her signature splits in front of Selma Blair, Tyra Banks exuding peak Fashion Icon energy—but it was Roan who left the deepest impression. Dressed like a postmodern time traveler and speaking with the confidence of a visionary, she proved that, like McQueen, she’s not just fitting fashion to the moment—she’s shaping what comes next.