Emma Chamberlain Subverts Formal Dressing With A Backless Shirt

If you are a longtime follower of Emma Chamberlain’s YouTube channel, you know nothing beats her melancholic Paris Fashion Week vlogs. Chamberlain — the teen YouTuber turned Met Gala regular (and newly minted Lâncome global ambassador) — has been making the rounds at this season’s couture shows, wearing everything from a barely there crimson bra at Vogue World to an all-latex look (down to the socks) at Thom Browne.

For Jean Paul Gaultier’s show, you could say Chamberlain went for a simple look, made up of a white button-down and black trousers — only the blouse was stiff and covered just the front of her torso like a bib/corset hybrid. This archival 2003 look was styled with a sleek French bun and fresh makeup, and her dramatic leather gloves and pointy heels added an extra layer of drama.

We can have some fun reading into Chamberlain’s front-row look: maybe it’s a cheeky nod to the generation of misguided influencers’ take on office wear, or perhaps it’s just the best way to wear a button down on increasingly hot summer days. Most likely, however, it’s a tribute to Gaultier’s recurrent experiments with deconstruction. In an official Jean Paul Gaultier TikTok captioned “from the office to the party,” Chamberlain explained her look, saying “it’s taking the most simple, classic silhouette and turning it on its head.” The results are cheeky, stylish, and totally hot.

This look is a continuation of Chamberlain’s relationship with the storied fashion house. She also wore Gaultier to this year’s Met Gala, sporting an elaborately embellished coffee-brown gown layered with deconstructed lace appliqués that included a tear-away skirt that turned the whole look into an afterparty minidress.