All Eyes on Rosalia at Extravagant Louis Vuitton Show

Rosalia performed some of her biggest hits at the Louis Vuitton show on Thursday. Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP
Rosalia performed some of her biggest hits at the Louis Vuitton show on Thursday. Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP
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All Eyes on Rosalia at Extravagant Louis Vuitton Show

Rosalia performed some of her biggest hits at the Louis Vuitton show on Thursday. Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP
Rosalia performed some of her biggest hits at the Louis Vuitton show on Thursday. Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

Pop superstar Rosalia grabbed all the attention at the Louis Vuitton show in Paris on Thursday, almost to the point of distracting from the clothes.

The French label spared no expense for the most anticipated show of menswear fashion week, with a vast hangar constructed alongside the Louvre, containing a stage made up like an open-plan house for the models to saunter through.

But the audience struggled to keep their eyes off the Spanish star, who delivered a blistering set of flamenco, rap and pop while parading around the set, lounging in its bed and clambering on top of a car, AFP said.

Louis Vuitton is still searching for a successor to designer Virgil Abloh, who died aged just 41 from cancer in late 2021.

Thursday's show was given over to a collective, including Colm Dillane, the wunderkind behind hot new brand Kidsuper, and Ibrahim Kamara from Abloh's own label Off-White.

Guests, who included singers J-Balvin and BTS's J-Hope, were given a movie clapper-board for their invitation, and the show was kickstarted by a short film co-directed by Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind").

Somewhere among all this showbiz were some clothes, and those who were able to pay attention got a rich and colorful collection, ranging from high-fashion pieces that evoked the label's recent tie-up with Japanese polka-dot artist Yayoi Kusama, glittering jackets, huge puffy versions of its iconic bags, and a hat-and-suit combo that seemed to be made from sheets of writing paper.



‘Cute and Murderous’: How Squid Game’s Iconic Killer Doll Came to Life 

Players take part in the Red Light, Green Light game at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium ahead of the release of the Netflix series Squid Game: Season 2 on December 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 22, 2024. (Reuters)
Players take part in the Red Light, Green Light game at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium ahead of the release of the Netflix series Squid Game: Season 2 on December 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Cute and Murderous’: How Squid Game’s Iconic Killer Doll Came to Life 

Players take part in the Red Light, Green Light game at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium ahead of the release of the Netflix series Squid Game: Season 2 on December 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 22, 2024. (Reuters)
Players take part in the Red Light, Green Light game at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium ahead of the release of the Netflix series Squid Game: Season 2 on December 26 in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 22, 2024. (Reuters)

While the second season of "Squid Game" has new plot twists, one element of the Netflix mega-hit series where contestants down on their luck risk their lives to play children's games for the chance of winning cash prizes, has remained constant.

That is Young-hee, an innocent-looking robotic doll who in fact has a deadly role in the South Korean-made television series to find contestants to gun down playing the game "Red Light, Green Light" if she spots them moving.

Young-hee, who is clad in a simple orange dress and a hair clip, has become a viral meme on social media and the centerpiece of the streaming giant's promotional campaign.

Chae Kyoung-sun, the production designer for "Squid Game", said the doll's appearance had been partly inspired by her own daughter.

"My daughter had a bowl cut for a long time which was very cute so I decided to draw a very short bang," Chae told Reuters.

"Her eyes are a little crazy. She's a killing machine and the movement of her eyes had to be easy to see, so we made her eyes quite big."

The initial inspiration for Young-hee came from a girl of the same name on the cover of old primary school textbooks in South Korea, though the killer doll was initially conceived as genderless, Chae said.

The first season of "Squid Game" became the most-watched show on the streaming platform and expectations were high for the second season to replicate the success.

The new season of the dystopian thriller, released on Dec. 26, also broke a record as the most-watched show in its premiere week on the streaming platform, with 68 million views, according to Netflix.

The streaming giant said on Tuesday it gained a record 18.9 million subscribers in its fourth quarter thanks in part to the second season of Squid Game.

In 2023, Netflix announced a $2.5 billion investment in South Korea to produce Korean TV series, movies and unscripted shows.

Asked about the success of the show and this particular character, Chae put it down to their unorthodox nature.

"How does this cute kid suddenly turn into a killing machine? - I think the creation of the 'Squid Game' world by adopting unpredictable concepts and methods resonated with young people looking for fresh things," she said.

At the end of the second season, viewers also get a glimpse of Chul-su, a male doll set to appear in the next season alongside Young-hee that was originally envisaged for the first series.

"When they said there will be a second season and that Chul-su would appear, I brought back the drawings I had of Chul-su for the first season," Chae said.

"Think of it as a friend, a partner," she said.

The third and final season of Squid Game is set to be released later this year.