ATEEZ’s San Made His Haute Couture Debut in a Sculptural Gladiator Armor — See Photos

Not only are we gearing up for Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal to duke it out in the ring later this year in Gladiator 2, but ATEEZ member San may have just kicked off a new trend of barely-there body armor.

The K-pop singer dropped down in Sardinia, Italy, on July 2 to attend Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda fashion event in an ornately designed chest plate shirt that quickly drew all the attention.

Courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana.

ATEEZ are no stranger to powerful looks thanks to their bombastic, noise-first concept. Still, while San can usually be found rocking military-inspired tailoring or slaying krakens as part of the group’s ambitious pirate-themed origin story, his high fashion event debut delivered delicacy as well as structure.

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Paired with sleek, satin brown pants, San let the brand’s main attraction do the talking. The harness-style plate is designed to look like the kind of ornate molding that wouldn’t go amiss crawling the ceilings of some grand palace. The regal piece, which shone under the fashion show lights thanks to its patent chocolate-brown finish, locked over the singer’s chest and waist and fastened at the sides. While it may be part of Dolce & Gabbana’s Gioielleria Collection, it’s lowkey giving Hunger Games tribute opening ceremony. (Someone call up Cinna, STAT!)

K-pop and fashion may be inextricably linked at this point, with idols poached as ambassadors for luxury labels before they even debut. But the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda event was San’s first high fashion event. Not that you’d know it, though, as he comfortably snapped pics with model legend Naomi Campbell and sat front row with Halle Bailey and Alessandra Ambrosio. There was even a case of seeing double, as the ornate piece made its runway debut at the same show.

With gladiator summer upon us, we’re not exactly sure we’d trust San’s look in battle, but who needs protection when it looks this good?

You can watch Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda show in full below: