Did you know that there’s an impersonator under Ocean Blvd? See all the BTS pictures of the doppelgänger getting ready to attend the Simone Rocha for Jean Paul Gaultier couture show
All eyes were on Paris earlier this week, as Simone Rocha presented her highly-anticipated haute couture collection as a guest designer for Jean Paul Gaultier. In the grand central halls of Gaultier’s headquarters, guests including Anna Wintour, Kylie Jenner and Baz Luhrmann were presented with 35 provocative, surrealist looks. And it was there, amidst the cascading, translucent fabric and whimsical Irish lace, that what looked to be a certain Miss Americana was spotted.
Dressed in layers of frothy tulle with a heavenly bodies halo and holding a rose, at first glance it appeared that the famed singer – whose life is sweet like cinnamon – had arrived to steal the show. However, on closer inspection, all was not what it seemed. Beneath the bridal gown and smokey cat-eye, it wasn’t the part-time Waffle House waitress who had shown up to enjoy the couture, but Alexis Stone – AKA Elliot Joseph Rentz, performance impersonator, make-up artist and internet personality.
Known for chameleonic transformations, throughout her career Stone has pulled off some impressive metamorphosises. Back in 2019, she made headlines when she revealed the extreme surgery that followers thought she had undergone months prior was actually an elaborate ruse in a dramatic video in which she pulled off half her face. Then there was the time she turned into Jocelyn Wildenstein, AKA ‘Catwoman’, to sit front row at Balenciaga’s AW22 Haute Couture show, or the time she attended under the guise of an extremely realistic Mrs Doubtfire.
From Dolly Parton to Jessica Lange and Jennifer Coolidge, Stone has slipped into the faces of some fabulously glamorous women, so it’s no surprise that for her latest transformation, she turned to a figure that has long been a muse and beauty icon. “I remember when ‘Video Games’ was released and instantly fell in love with all she produced,” she tells Dazed. “I’m a firm believer of things happening at the right time and having worked on these visually striking transformations for years now, it felt appropriate doing her with a couture JPG moment. It’s romantic, poetic and screams femininity.”
The project was two months in the making and involved prosthetic production, hair, wigs and make-up tests, and many different artists to fully realise the look. Having previously worked with the JPG team on a campaign where she transformed into Mr Gaultier himself, Stone was excited to continue the collaboration and create something memorable. When it came to the ‘Summertime Sadness’ singer, Stone had a lot of different aesthetics to choose from.
“The beautiful thing with her is she’s also a transformer, whether it’s her Born to Die era or now, there’s been many references from Priscilla to Marilyn, so emphasising her own passion for hair, make-up and exaggerated features really helps me lean into achieving a successful make-up transformation,” she says. “Her instantly iconic image paired with her motion through life is a really beautiful performance.”
Having been a fan of Miss Americana for so long, Stone hopes that she will be able to create the same inspirational experience – and she still feels the same love for the game as she always has. “Taking a concept I’ve daydreamed about, pulling from direct inspiration and mixing liquid chemicals to create a physical trickery is magical to me,” she says. “It’s blurring the lines between reality and fantasy in what I consider to be the coolest form, movie make-up.”