Cher Stuns The Audience At The Ann Demeulemeester Show

Shows rarely — if ever? — open with raucous applause.But most shows don’t start with Cher. That was the case Saturday night at the Ann Demeulemeester show, when the iconic singer made an entrance just before the first models hit the runway.

The whole room had been seated, silent and still for several minutes in anticipation of her imminent arrival. When she made her entrance in a black coat and grand, swooping hat, the audience erupted into applause.

Cher was on hand to support Demeulemeester’s return to the runway after over two years away, and the designer showed a monochrome and meditative collection of jackets, flowing trousers, tucked dresses and her signature elevated white cotton shirts.

After the show Cher told WWD that she has long been a fan of the brand. In fact, she’s worn Demeulemeester on several red carpets.

“I loved it,“ she said. “I’ve been wearing her things forever. They’re right for me, that’s what I love about them.”

Cher has been the talk of the town since she made an appearance on the Balmain runway last week. As for taking to the soccer stadium for her historic walk, she brushed it off like a pro.

“I’ve been walking on a stage for ever so it was just fun,” she said. Speaking of becoming friends with Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing, she added: “I really like him, and there’s a man’s jacket that I really want.”

She’s been an icon for more than five decades, but doesn’t mull over past styles. In her zen manner, she lives in the moment. “I don’t think of it, truthfully. Each thing is a thing and each moment is a moment and when it’s gone, it’s gone. My mother still looks at old pictures though.”

Before the show, Halsey sat next to the spot reserved for Cher. She was fangirling a little bit, like the rest of the audience.

“I can’t believe it,” she said of her seat. “The reason I was zoning out is that I’m going over and over in my head what I’m gonna say to her. I’ll probably come up with something amazing and then when I see her I’ll go ‘I love you so much’ and won’t have the courage to say anything else after that. Her just being here this week is iconic.”

The singer celebrated her birthday Sept. 29 and decided to spend it in Paris. “Every year it falls right on my birthday. So you know, every year I have to make the decision — am I going on a tropical vacation or to fashion week? And this year I was like, it’s fashion week,” she said.

To celebrate she went out to dinner and took a group of friends to the Crazy Horse cabaret. “They’ve never been and I was like this is a Parisian classic, so you have to see it. I’ve seen the show a bunch of times, but I was like, ‘I just want to see your reactions.’”

The new mom just finished her “Love and Power” tour, and had been vocal on social media about the toll it took on her.

“Now I’m feeling really good,” she said. “Things are slowing down for me and I’m excited to go home and spend some time with my son and, you know, just do holiday things with the baby.”

Among the fashion week chaos, the Demeulemeester show was a moment of calm — at least for 10 minutes before the cameras started snapping again.