Kiddy Smile Calls Out the Fashion Establishment With His Homespun Opera Look

French DJ and producer Kiddy Smile has a history of using red carpet appearances to make more than just a simple fashion statement. At the Cannes Film Festival a few months ago, he rebuked the ceremony’s long-standing gender-based dress code two times over. In lieu of the mandated black tuxedo and bow tie for men, Smile walked the red carpet in a sequined jumpsuit one day, and then he took things even further for his next appearance with a floral, tiered gown that matched his bright orange hair. “There’s something very old-school about it,” Smile told Vogue about the Cannes policy. “I’m a cis man, but if you’re gender-fluid or nonbinary, there is no space for you to exist within this protocol.”

Now Smile is yet again using fashion to send an important message, this time about how big brands and elite cultural institutions often overlook size inclusivity. For the opening fundraiser gala for the new season of the Paris Opera Ballet at the Palais Garnier, he wore a bright yellow fringed jumpsuit that he sewed himself. “It’s not easy to navigate elegantly in fashion [and at] high circle events and to be a BIG girl, but I’m trying my best,” Smile explained on Instagram. “I have been sewing my outfits for stage…[or for my day-to-day] for the past 10 years.”

He showed off his sewing skills at Cannes earlier this year, too, by making the sequin jumpsuit he wore on the first night of the festival. He didn’t get any sleep that night, finishing the outfit just in time for a last-minute red carpet appearance. “I [had] always hid the fact that I was sewing my outfits,” Smile said. “Maybe I was ashamed. I don’t know! So here is my coming out as a seamstress.”

Originally Appeared on Vogue