From runway model to trans activist to actress, Hunter Schafer has accumulated an impressive number of hyphenates — and accolades — in the last five years. And after being cast as Jules in HBO’s Euphoria, Hunter was catapulted to international stardom overnight. Before taking her first leading role, however, the actress walked the runways of Prada, Dior and Miu Miu in 2017. At just 17, she was listed as one of Teen Vogue’s “21 Under 21” for her activism work. Today, she’s one of the Time100. In a lot of ways, Hunter epitomizes the best of Gen Z: its passion and determination, its creativity and play.
Hunter’s style, too, embodies that of Gen Z: idiosyncratic, eclectic, and, dare we say, euphoric. Like an Instagram moodboard or Depop wishlist come to life, the actress’ look takes in designer grails (Rick Owens boots and Rodarte dresses) and fashion’s buzziest names (Nensi Dojaka, Mugler, et al.), with a penchant for the avant-garde and everything sci-fi. Since setting trends as Euphoria’s Jules (heralding the return of the tennis skirt and prompting even elder millennials to try blue eyeliner), Hunter has become a muse to fashion’s new guard: Givenchy’s Matthew M. Williams, Mugler’s Casey Cadwallader and Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry, to name a few. Here, just before Euphoria finally returns to our screens, we take a look back at some of Hunter Schafer’s most iconic outfits.
At the ATX Television Festival, 2019
Before being cast as Euphoria’s Jules, Hunter was also preparing to enroll in fashion design at Central Saint Martins. While the actress never made it across the pond, her love for the discipline comes through in her style. She’s a Rick Owens devotee. She loves archival Prada. And, according to Euphoria costume designer Heidi Bivens, she’s always on the forefront of emerging designers. Here, she wears a look from one of Charlotte Knowles’ — now KNWLS — formative collections, complete with a Sailor Moon hairdo Jules would approve of.
At the InStyle Awards, 2019
Speaking of Rick Owens, Hunter pulled a major head-to-toe look from the designer at the InStyle Awards back in 2019. Just look at those boots. At the time, she professed to Dazed that Rick is one of her “absolute fucking favourite designers!” It tracks: she’s worn looks by the American designer both on and off-duty in recent years. And in 2018, she even walked Rick’s SS19 show at Paris Fashion Week.
At the Vanity Fair Oscars Party, 2020
Hunter’s style is, in a word, euphoric. Whether it’s a Givenchy set or a pair of Rick boots, she wears her wardrobe with a sense of joy that’s palpable — and infectious. Here, at Vanity Fair’s 2020 Oscars party, she takes a twirl in a colourful fringed gown by Givenchy.
At the 30th Annual IFP Gotham Awards, 2021
Hunter is a Givenchy girl through-and-through. After wearing a number of red carpet looks designed by the house’s former head Clare Waight Keller, in 2021, the actress became one of the first to wear a custom gown crafted by its hotly-anticipated new creative director, Matthew M. Williams. Cut with a corseted bustier and decked in a padlocked-belt, the dress was a preview of the kind of minimalist-gothic fare we’ve come to expect from both Matthew and Hunter.
Wearing Mugler on Instagram, 2021
Hunter may now be gracing our small screens, but she definitely hasn’t given up the catwalk. In 2021, the model-turned-actress walked Mugler’s surreal SS21 virtual show alongside Dominique Jackson and Bella Hadid. Here, off the runway, she wears one of the Parisian label’s infamous bodysuits.
On Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, 2021
With her penchant for the fantastical dress, of course Hunter found an affinity with Daniel Roseberry and his modern-surrealist vision for Schiaparelli. Here, on the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, the actress wears one of the label’s gowns in a conceptual “free the nipple” moment.
At the Met Gala, 2021
“She’s got an anime, sci-fi heart in her core — she’s that kind of person,” makeup artist Sandy Ganzer told Vanity Fair, describing both Hunter’s personal style and her otherworldly 2021 Met Gala look. The custom Prada set was inspired by an archival look pulled from the brand’s FW99 collection, redone in a futuristic silver foil leather. To top off the sci-fi of it all, Hunter sported a set of white-out contacts, sculptural acrylics and a spidery face-piece designed by friend Evangeline AdaLioryn. To be expected of one of Gen Z’s foremost fashion risk-takers, it was a daring first Met Gala look. And hopefully the first of many to come.
