Amber Rose, Kris Van Assche, Kanye West and Chris Brown at Van Assche’s show. Photo courtesy of Getty.

Looks as though musician-cum-fashionphile Kanye West has proselytized a new recruit. Chris Brown, the latest maligned celebrity to be embraced by the seemingly forgiving fashion world, was snapped in West’s company throughout last week. I have no idea whether these two are in fact friends. But I don’t like the precedent.

Though most idiocy typically ensues in New York (witness She by Sheree, the upcoming Kardashians for Bebe presentation and Ashley Dupre front row at Yigal Azrouël) our foolios flocked to the men’s shows in Europe. Despite MTV’s denials vis à vis West, neither of the two were ostensibly welcome at George Clooney’s Hope for Haiti telethon Friday, a star-studded concert that might have attracted both just a year ago. With West’s Taylor Swift takedown and Brown’s Ike Turner 2.0 maelstrom still fresh in everyone’s minds, this was essentially a given.

Kanye West and Amber Rose at Louis Vuitton. Photo courtesy of Dominique Maitre.

While West’s admittedly been a front row fixture with frequent escort Amber Rose for a while now, he’s loath to go low-key. This is at least due in part to Rose’s sartorial stylings (or lack thereof). Most notably, there were the matching full-length furs at Louis Vuitton and Rose’s nausea-inducing shredded dress at Kris Van Assche. Brown was also in attendance at the Belgian designer’s show, glimpsed grinning despite the knowledge that he didn’t belong, or staring at the camera with faux-pimp stoicism. I didn’t bother keeping track of where Brown made his Milan and Paris pit-stops, but according to his website, the singer attended at least nine shows, often clad in the designer’s wares. And if you um, want to “get Chris’ looks,” the site has provided a series of links via ShopStyle. Seriously.

Jean Paul Gaultier and Chris Brown at Gaultier’s show. Photo courtesy of Dominique Maitre.

While I found that last tidbit laughable, not so Brown’s post-show pic with designer Jean Paul Gaultier. In it, Gaultier stands, hands folded, half-smiling despite his (fake) bloodied, banged-up mug. Brown, one arm around Gaultier’s shoulder, has a tight, awkward look on his face, as if he kinda-knows-he-shouldn’t-be-doing-this. To use Tyra parlance, he ain’t smilin’ with his eyes.  To put the image in context, Gaultier’s show was roughly themed around the gym–boxing specifically–replete with “bruised” models. The designer himself saw fit to indulge, hence the makeup. Now, there’s no way in hell Gaultier’s PR could have been ignorant of Brown’s criminal past. Perhaps they’re looking to drum up a little publicity for that new Target collab? Even if they didn’t care whether the Brown pic would ignite controversy, the singer’s handlers should have known better–one “friendly” post-show pic isn’t worth it. To quote a colleague in attendance of Thursday’s show, “that was gross on so many levels.”

Target’s mascot

To add insult to injury (too easy) Brown told WWD that he was “open to any propositions in the fashion field, though he would prefer to collaborate with a label rather than launch a full line under his own name.” I’ve made my feelings toward ersatz celebrity designers known before, and this is yet another ridiculous example of a young multi-hyphenate looking to re-ignite his career.  Given the time dedicated to cataloguing all of Brown’s men’s show moves, not to mention just about every outfit he wore last week, perhaps his people are in fact looking to re-brand him as a fashionisto. Regardless, it may be a very, very long time before anyone touches Brown sans kid gloves. Or boxing gloves, as it were.