A dress and a woman who both speak out about the music industry.

The 2025 Grammy awards had a lot of interesting moments but one thing in particular really stood out to me: Chappell Roan’s red carpet dress. The dress was a Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2003 archive; a tulle heavy dress, with a printed fabric. The print on the fabric, however, is what makes it special. It was meant to resemble two works by Edgar Degas, “Dancer with a Bouquet” and “Ballet”. His paintings have a deeper meaning that connect to Chappell’s award speech.

Edgar Degas became famous for his ballerina paintings. These paintings were meant to realistically capture 19th-century ballet dancers in their everyday lives, capturing the harsh realities they faced. Specifically, they showed the exploitation they faced trying to make enough money to support themselves and their families, often from quite a young age. The exhausted dancers, the wealthy men in the background, the sexual interactions between the girls and the men around them, were all visual proof of the exploitation of young ballet dancers and the horrible conditions they faced. It symbolized classism, exploitation, objectification, and sexism of the 19th-century ballet industry.

It’s likely that Jean Paul Gaultier chose these specific paintings intentionally for his dress. Gaultier was known for his liberal beliefs as an openly gay designer who appreciated and incorporated many cultures in his designs, pushed the boundaries of masculinity, and celebrated differences. It’s likely he would choose artistic works that spoke for the restrictive and exploitative conditions of their time. 

Though I almost have no doubt that Chappell Roan chose this dress for a reason. Chappell Roan may have changed her outfit after the red carpet, but I believe that it ties to her Grammy award acceptance speech. In her speech, she spoke about music labels and their exploitation of artists who are often very young: how they don’t provide what an artist needs to survive or how labels can leave minors with no job experience if they get dropped. The relation between the exploitation from music labels today and ballet dancers today are scarily similar. I think it also stands as a symbol of activism and feminism. Chappell isn’t afraid to stand up to herself, even in an industry that discourages it. She recognizes the power abuse and imbalances in the industry as a whole, including how female artists are often told that objectification, stalking, and creepy behavior are all normal.