Issue 213
January 2025
Izzy Carnwath reports on how MMA is punching its way into high fashion, as she consulted for Coucou Bebe 75018’s ‘TESTOSTERONE’ collection at Paris Fashion Week, which turned the runway into a fight night
Mixed martial arts and fashion are starting to share the same stage. Our favorite sport shocked Paris Fashion Week as the surprise element of Coucou Bebe 75018’s highly anticipated debut runway show, TESTOSTERONE, inspired by the art of Pyotr Pavlensky. Having clothed A$AP Rocky, A$AP Nast, 21 Savage, Madonna, and Quavo, eyes have since been on Coucou Bebe 75018 as a counter-cultural force in fashion. On 21 January, the young designer’s first solo collection was presented at a hush-hush, invite-only event at the iconic Elysée Montmartre. Only if you knew, you knew.
A/POLITICAL
FASHION STATEMENTS
The front row included celebs such as Rich the Kid, Malik Montana, Millyz, Shallipopi, and Ski Aguu, alongside NFL and NBA players. The catwalk was an MMA fight night with pro fighters modeling across four high-octane bouts. Coucou based his collection on the art of Pyotr Pavlensky, who had not long arrived in France to destabilize the Paris Mayoral elections with his ‘Pornopolitics’ stunt. Expecting a traditional runway presentation of the Menswear Fall/Winter 2025 collection, the audience got a lot more than they bargained for.
A/POLITICAL
HIGH FASHION THROWS DOWN
On entering the art deco venue, with its prestigious boxing and wrestling history, guests were visibly disorientated by the cage. Shortly afterward, the fighters began to walk out, provocatively modeled by Coucou in either his trademark haute couture streetwear or characterized as police, to the bass-heavy sounds of Wiley, Skepta, and Nardo Wick as ring girls paraded on the platform. Having performed a shadow-boxing turn for the cameras, when the fighters started fighting, the surprise in the room was tangible.
Credit: Yann Levy. Description: Shekibullah Warris(L) and Samba Sima (R)
MMA MAKEOVERS
Organized in partnership with French promoter HEXAGONE MMA, this is the first time high fashion collided with MMA, especially significant in France since the sport was only legalized there in 2020. Through a collision of outsider cultures and provocateurs, they created a groundbreaking transgression in the fashion world, challenging the expectations of the fashion-world elite.
Energy remained high in the room, with the audience transfixed by the compelling fighting action unfolding before them. French household names battled it out across short but intense and dynamic 3 x 1 minute exhibition matches, watched by show-judges in black gowns and white wigs. The coaches, corners and MC provided additional models for the clothing.
Credit: Yann Levy
ARMBARS AND AVANT-GARDE
Modeling the collection were fighters: veteran and ex-PFL fighter Anthony Dizy; multiple world grappling champion Alexis Fontes; veteran Muay Thai World Champion Mike Wasserman; national MMA champion and amateur world medalist Samba Sima, alongside Nicolae Bivol, Théo Ulrich, former boxer Lazaro Maza Blanco and Shekibullah Warris. The evening ended with an after-party to the beats of Trap DJ Chloe Thomas
and the audience dancing in the cage.
Credit: Yann Levy
ABOUT TESTOSTERONE
Already renowned for rewriting the conventions of the fashion world, Coucou Bebe’s creations resemble collages, mixing influences from childhood nostalgia, current affairs, and high fashion to create surprise and disbelief. His clothing challenges traditional expectations, offering a fresh and provocative take on contemporary culture. The collection was inspired by the works of Russian political artist Pyotr Pavlensky, who constantly challenges power through extreme performance art, most famously nailing his testes to the pavement of Moscow’s Red Square. His goal is to make the mechanics of power visible through extreme acts in public areas and has been arrested for every piece of artwork he has created so far.
A/POLITICAL
PUTTING ON A SHOW
The organizer, A/POLITICAL, known for holding the world’s most extensive collection of socio-political art, is the steward of Pavlensky’s work. A/POLITICAL explained the connection, “Coucou Bebe and Pyotr Pavlensky share a hallucinatory quality in their work - people do not believe what they are seeing is real. Certainly, with its unique fusion of mixed martial arts, hip hop, extreme art, and avant-garde fashion, the historic event provided both spectacle and social commentary as: “the classic runway became the walkway for the fighters to enter the cage, the epicenter for both physical and symbolic clashes.”
And from the expressions on their faces, the audience legitimately couldn’t believe it!
A/POLITICAL
THE FIGHTERS VIEWS?
It was all positive for Alexis Fontes, a former member of the French national judo team and multiple-time world grappling medalist.
“Loved it!” he said. “It was an amazing experience. I wanted to show the beauty of our sport, and I applied myself very seriously in front of an exceptional audience. As for the clothes, they were really atypical. I loved my look, even if the clothes weren’t items I would wear. There were some really stylish items.”
Credit: Yann Levy: Desription: Alexis Fonte
THE DESIGNER
For Coucou Bebe 75018, the end result was rich with meaning. “The presentation concept functioned as we had expected - with brutal performances by the fighters making the connection between the work of Pyotr Pavlensky and my practice - as I presented this new collection named Testosterone. The name stems from the connection I see between the molecule found in testicles—which allows Pyotr Pavlensky to nail his balls to the ground in front of Putin’s palace—and the fighters’ ability to fight so violently.”
For information about Coucou Bebe 75018 clothing: coucoubebe75018.com
For more about A/POLITICAL: a-political.org
For information about HEXAGONE MMA: hexagonemma.fr
