In honor of International Women’s Day, luxury womenswear designer Christian Cowan staged a flamboyantly vivid, refreshingly inclusive runway show in collaboration with his all-time favorite animated series The Powerpuff Girls. After crafting a glamorous collection inspired by the cartoon superwomen last year, Cowan’s Powerpuff partnership is now reaching elevated heights with a new generation of tribute designs. Spurring from his childhood love for the Cartoon Network show, Cowan directly contacted the showrunners to pitch his idea for a follow-up collaborative collection, and the result was nothing short of superpower-ful. 

On his inspiration for the Powerpuff collection, Cowan reflects on a period of time where he watched the show while he was in and out of the hospital as a child. “[The hospital] always had The Powerpuff Girls playing. It was my favorite thing. I’d sit down with all the girls and watch it. We had a great time,” he tells V. “The Powerpuff Girls needed absolutely no saving. They were just doing the damn thing themselves and saving everyone else.” As a brand dedicated to the celebration of women, Cowan’s Powerpuff collaboration is a tailored fusion of his own persona and his female-empowering iterations. 

Informed by a palette of pastel blue, pink, and green—Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup’s signature colors—the collection highlights the feminine form in a plethora of classic, glistening and feathered Christian Cowan fabrics. Amidst the range of gem-powered looks, a blazer-turned-dress boasting international flags celebrates womanhood across the globe, while glittering suits pay homage to today’s women in power. Dominating the runway in an array of the designer’s collaborative, time-telling Giusseppe Zanotti heels and dramatically sparkling cowboy boots, each model embodied the fearless and confident Christian Cowan woman with each step. Crystal-covered polaroids and coffee cups made for chic accessories alongside a selection of Cowan’s first-ever purses, which debuted on the Fall/Winter 2020 runway. In closing, Meghan Trainor, Nikita Dragun, and Kelle Moran fulfilled the show’s Powerpuff fantasy in feathered, monochrome dresses, each of which enlivened one of the respective, animated supergirls.  

Below, explore the Christian Cowan x The Powerpuff Girls runway show on International Women’s Day.