These Lips Might Sink Ships...: Jean Paul Gaultier

I couldn't help, but to feel a bit irked when I read the beginning of Tim Blanks' review of the Jean Paul Gualtier couture show, which started, "The invitation safety-pinned a piece of fishnet to a piece of cardboard." The punk frame of reference is one I love if done right (most recently by Balenciaga and Balmain), but Gaultier's last ready-to-wear collection was an unsuccessful take on 80's rock and roll. I love the man, which made it all the more disappointing. Fortunately, Gaultier got it right this time. Naturally, the collection had a renegade quality to it, as Gaultier's work always does, but it wasn't contrived. It felt like an honest declaration of a feeling. This is what I think is beautiful. This is what "couture" means to me. Seeing a highly tailored, pant-heavy collection is always a fresh sight during the couture shows, which are often laden with billowing skirts—not that these were completely factored out. The models walked out with mohawked manes and number cards, the latter being a tongue-in-cheek reference to the couture shows of the past. Other notable show elements were the impossibly gorgeous Andrej Pejic as bride and a Can Can dancer whose upturned skirt revealed an excess of legs printed on the inside. There was something rough-and-tumble about each look, whether that be the addition of a chained choker or bondage-like buckles on the front of a ivory gown. Gaultier gave himself freedom within the collection, avoiding a singular statement, and providing an array of looks. A coral, silky, one-shouldered trench dress—a play on his trademark, the trench coat— served as a reminder of his talent and legacy, lest anyone forget. You had better not either, Monsieur Gaultier.

Frida Gustavsson