Tootlafrance fashion correspondent Marie Marsone checks out Jean Paul Gaultier’s show at the latest round of fashion extravaganzas from a cold and rainy Paris – fashion capital of the world
Jean Paul Gaultier fashion shows are known for many things but one constant characteristic is a perfect finale! And once again, the stylist shows that he still knows how to put his refined and seductive creations for the new season on show.
The 61-year-old couturier presented his new collection, to a great reception, on the 22nd of January during the Spring-Summer 2014 Haute Couture Fashion Week. The latest creations from the one-time Eurotrash presenter are marked by a butterfly effect; a note of inspiration that the designer explained he found in London:
“I was thinking about the material, about the colours and how they could be used and then I saw the shape of a butterfly; that it could be the silhouette of a woman – it was all like a dress.”
The designer thus offered to an enthralled crowd a fashion show of dresses with fluid and harmonious lines full of lightness. J P Gaultier used many materials to achieve a “fly-away” effect in the silhouettes he created: organza, crêpe, silk, fish-net… The designer also put lively colours and black contours on show, as well as delicate embroidery and well-worked creases to enhance his models that he wanted to look like “Show-girl butterflies”.
In addition to the fluidity of the materials and of the colours, Jean Paul Gaultier also played on the transparency et the refined cuts, marrying the material to the body without enclosing it. The butterfly is found in all forms amongst the work on display; as much in the motifs as in the fall of material in his creations. The hats and hair-dos pick up this theme and give a lift to the costumes presented. Added to the butterfly effect is a cabaret effect, which is manifest in the outlines as well as in the feathered head-dresses.
The high point of the show and what was possibly Gaultier’s imagination incarnate, the pièce de résistance of the collection represented both the cabaret aspect and the butterfly effect in equal measure: A dress/corset in blue and black tones worn by the famous American stripper (and short-lived wife of Marilyn Manson with whom she was married in Ireland) Dita Von Teese. This fitting climax was a much-anticipated one and received rapturous applause, bringing the show to a beautiful conclusion.
It was one of the un-missable events of this latest Paris Fashion Week and the Jean Paul Gaultier show generated the interest of a number of famous personalities, prominent amongst whom were legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve and the former model Farida Khelfa; an actress and muse of Gaultier, as well as being the mastermind of the Schiaparelli fashion house. Also seated in the first row of the Gaultier show were singer/actress Arielle Dombasle, actress Aïssa Maïga (winner of Best Newcomer at the César awards in 2007), French/Ukrainian model and Bond Girl Olga Kurylenko and Spanish actress Paz Vega.
The show on Rue Saint-Martin also attracted singer/actress/artist Amanda Lear, who turned up with her boyfriend Anthony Lornez, as well as singer Anggun (recent recipient of the Medal of the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres), artistic director/choreographer Blanca Li and photographer Ali Mahdavi. The latter worked on the publicity campaign that put Dita Von Teese in the limelight for the Wonderbra label and he is currently artistic director at the famous Crazy Horse strip club/cabaret in Paris.
All were present to salute the take-off of the colourful and delicate silhouettes as imagined by Jean Paul Gaultier for a fairy-like fashion show that was faithful to the spirit of the French designer.