.jpg)
A colorful crowd including Heidi Klum, Erika Jayne, Tinashe, and Carly Rae Jepsen gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate International Women’s Day with Christian Cowan and Cartoon Network’s crime-fighting girl squad from The Powerpuff Girls. The designer teamed up with the makers of the cult girl-power cartoon on a collection made of sugar, spice, and everything nice (with a little bit of that Chemical X factor sprinkled in)—all to benefit She’s the First, a nonprofit that fights gender inequality through education.
Known for his high-wattage party frocks, barely there bodysuits, and logo sweatshirt dresses, Cowan, who was a 2018 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist, dresses gutsy girls with an outspoken sense of style. “When I was growing up, I watched the show all the time. I probably watched hundreds of episodes,” he told Vogue. “I loved these girls that didn’t need saving; they were saving everyone else.”
Powerpuff protagonists Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup opened the show in glitter pantsuits in their signature psychedelic pink, blue, and green hues topped off with motorcycle helmets covered in black satin flowers, giving them the air of a mod girl gang. Cowan’s favorite character, the gender-bending, campy villain HIM, doubtless inspired the thigh-high black latex boots worn with a cut-out snakeskin print mini, while Professor Utonium was represented in a white leather shirtdress worn under a clear vinyl hat and lab-style coat.
Mixed in with Cowan’s greatest hits were superhero pieces that included a hot pink fur chubby with neon-light lapels and a pastel ombré trouser suit with pleating down the sides. “It was a real technical challenge lining up the pleats with the color gradation,” said Cowan. As a nod to the kindergarteners by day slash superheroes who save the world before bedtime, there were capes aplenty, ranging from neon organza pleats and layered checkerboard tulle to pink metallic sequins.
Paris Hilton, one of Cowan’s earliest patrons, closed out the show to the sounds of Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” dressed in a full latex body suit and tulle mini dress. Hilton’s micro Chihuahua Diamond Baby was outfitted in a coordinating sparkly pink harness and oversize bow. “I love Christian. His aesthetic is just me,” said Hilton backstage. “I walked in his first New York show, so to be here to support him on International Women’s Day with The Powerpuff Girls—the ultimate OG feminist cartoon—is just perfect.”