Gwendoline Christie spent seven seasons of Game of Thrones covered in dirt-streaked armour, wielding a sword as Brienne of Tarth, hardly with any skin exposed. Fast forward to January 2024, and she is closing John Galliano's Maison Margiela Artisanal show under the Pont Alexandre III in a latex corset and porcelain-doll makeup, and the internet cannot look away.
That moment did not happen by chance or sheer luck. Christie has spent the best part of a decade turning high fashion into her second stage, forcing an industry notorious for its rigid constraints to expand its dimensions around her scale rather than asking her to shrink to fit it.
A Decade of Runway Theatre
It all began at Vivienne Westwood's Fall/Winter 2015 show in Paris. Making her runway debut, Christie swaggered down the catwalk in sharp tailoring and a towering, subverted top hat. This appearance led her to front the label's unisex campaign that celebrated her height.
Months later, she shifted from punk rebellion to high-concept futurism at Iris van Herpen's Quaquaversal presentation. Transformed into a living sculpture, Christie lay motionless on a rotating circular plinth while robotic arms laser-cut, hand-wove, and 3D-printed a dress directly onto her body in real time.
Miu Miu, Then Koizumi
In 2018, Christie disrupted Miu Miu's Cruise show in Paris. Towering over a catwalk traditionally reserved for waifish, ultra-petite, gamine archetypes, she rewrote the entire proportion of what a Miu Miu woman could look like.
The following February, she caused absolute fashion-week hysteria at Tomo Koizumi's New York debut. Flanked by Bella Hadid, Christie closed the show engulfed in a kaleidoscopic, hyper-voluminous cloud of ruffles, navigating the runway with the absolute gravity of a high-fashion deity.
From Operatic Stages to Custom Red Carpets
Three years later, Thom Browne opened his Spring/Summer 2023 show at the Opera Garnier by casting Christie in an embroidered, midnight-blue coat. Rather than executing a standard runway walk, she treated the space as a theatrical stage, delivering a poetic, slow-burning performance.
@thombrowne … welcome to my home … gwendoline christie wears a duchess silk satin chesterfield robe with cables and foliage in gold bullion and silk satin stitch embroidery. thom browne women’s spring 2023 collection. #thombrowne #thombrowness23
♬ original sound - THOM BROWNE.
This public theatricality has a brilliant, private counterpart. Off the runway, Christie has spent over a decade as the ultimate muse to her partner, British designer Giles Deacon. Rejecting standard sample sizes entirely, Deacon constructs statuesque, custom silhouettes to frame her physique.
Galliano's Glass-Skin Masterpiece
Yet, nothing tops the triumph achieved beneath the Pont Alexandre III. Galliano conjured a rundown, gritty speakeasy with peeling paint, stolen jewels, and film noir visuals flickering across antique mirrors. Into this dark, atmospheric setup, he sent Christie out as his final, crowning act, dressed in a large crinoline made of tight latex. Her skin was lacquered into Pat McGrath's now-legendary, hyper-glossy porcelain finish.
Within hours, TikTok and Instagram were flooded with beauty creators attempting to replicate the glossy effect, sparking a viral obsession that lasted for weeks. In the room itself, the atmosphere broke into pure theatre: Baz Luhrmann was stamping his feet in delight, while photographers clamoured for more shots.
Sartorial Armour
Christie never shed the power Westeros gave her. Instead, she recontextualised it, one designer at a time. From a Paris debut in a punk top hat to a shattered porcelain doll under a bridge, she turned nearly a decade of runway history into undeniable proof that commanding space was never really about the sword.
