Gaultier's Mother-of-Pearl Moment
By Godfrey Deeny
(Photo by Gruber-FWD)
PARIS, Jan 22, 2003/ FWD/ --- Jean Paul Gaultier took his bow at the end of his haute
couture collection Monday in a skullcap made of mother-of-pearl, a material that
embroidered, accessorized and enlivened a subversively chic show, the sort one only ever
sees in Paris.
It was sequined chic and buttoned beauty in this beguiling show, a clever reminder of why
the French now regard Gaultier as the great master of modern couture.
It opened with superficially the simplest of looks -- a long, slim jacket in black crepe
de lain -- but casually twisted with jade piping on the model's endless stocking leg.
The crowd in Gaultier's tattered chic headquarters was immediately awed, as the designer
sent out one great look after another.
His ability to make the improbable look cool was at its best in a series of "surprise"
shirts and jackets, which hung on hidden hangers in front of the models, leaving their
backs bare.
It sounds kind of ridiculous, I know; yet the idea worked.
The joy was also in the details, from a refined little tarantula spider brooch perched
on a futurist dress to the missing shoulders on a tuxedo jacket revealing elaborate blue
faux tattoos.
The couturier's sense of imagination really ran wild in the show's closing stages, as a
Pocahontas in Africa look entitled "Tomboctou" preceded a flowing bustier robe in a
Degas print and a remarkable, massive striped Panama hat, which pulled back became a cardigan.
The crowd whooped it up: Bryan Adams and Trudie Styler in the celeb section, an ecstatic
Isabella Blow in amongst the critics, and -- in a striking nod from the establishment --
the former and current French First Ladies, Mesdames Pompidou and Chirac.
That sort of imprimatur money can't buy.
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