Gaultier couture spring 2022

You say potato I say potahto... let’s call the whole thing off! Sound familiar?? Another familiar aphorism ... beauty is in the eye of the beholder and well this beholder was not all that impressed or convinced of the words used by Glenn Martens, the guest designer (Y Project) and the author of the review on the Vogue site.

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Where he saw the original DNA of the brand ... I saw references to Iris van Herpen, the Japanese, dare I say Valentino and Margiela among others and oh yes there was the hip fixation but in couture it was tongue in cheek and in rtw it was dead serious. Let me be the first one to point out that when JPG did couture it was wildly chic, urbane and wildly creative and totally him. So here, the jumping off point is not as true to couture as Martens decided to use the codes of RTW as opposed to the codes of the Haute Couture. He might have taken note that the “tattoo” fabric was not meant to drape but to be second skin hence the name!

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It bothers me tremendously that now designers basically write their own reviews and the supposed critics have become secretaries or just plain regurgitators of the designer’s words ... simply said ... the writers/reviewers bring nothing to the table except a keyboard and the designers all want to make themselves out to be the greatest thing since thread who have assembled genius groundbreaking collections that are supposed to be seen as such! Guess what ... it aint, they aint and they will never be brilliant except in their own minds and on the pages written by the fawners and wannabes who pretend to know what they are talking about. The problem being most are not well versed enough to be critics and so it’s far easier to let the designers do the” talking!”

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I would suggest the Mr. Martens try to calculate likes/clicks to the amount of couture the brand will sell and to the audience who is clicking and liking said collection!

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Lastly, I’d like to point out to designers, readers and reviewers that couture was never meant to be a democratic pursuit ... it is supported by maybe 1% of the world’s population who can afford to buy 4, 5 and 6 figure garments made to measure, so all this bull about appealing to a larger audience is exactly that .. bull! Oh, and rarely do these brands ever break out the numbers of just how much they do sell.

Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture fall 2019

As Vogue points out “Gaultier occupies a rare spot in the couture landscape: he’s the only famous French couturier of his generation still rocking out at his own house. And he is obviously still having a blast.”

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His Fashion Freak Show is so popular it is heading to London this season. What is so imperative to keep in mind is that these clothes come from the same mind and hand that designed them decades ago. These are not reimaginings or extrapolations at the hands of others who take the mantle of a designer brand. All of these clothes are pure JPG. 

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Moncler should hide their head in shame when they see what the “enfant terrible” of fashion has cooked up in “his kitchen.” Though no longer an “enfant” JPG is a designer who possesses the skillset and vision to be more soigné than Ralph Rucci and more outrageous than Viktor & Rolf. He is a man of many talents with the ability to translate his fantasies into reality. This has absolutely nothing to do with wearability or salability, this is about fashion in its purest and most creative sense as it is direct to client!

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Love it all… no ... respect him  with all of my being for staying the course and showing the fashion world that he can do just about anything he wants to do. The real challenge as a viewer is to be able to strip away the spectacle and gimmickry and see some incredibly beautiful truly haute couture clothes aimed at a very select few. The die hards will find what they love and I’d be willing to bet there will be new clients knocking at the door chez Gaultier very soon.

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Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2018 Couture

That old black magic has me in its spell
That old black magic that you weave so well
Those icy fingers up and down my spine
The same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine

The same old tingle that I feel inside
And then that elevator starts its ride
And down and down I go, round and round I go
Like a leaf that's caught in the tide

I should stay away but what can I do?
I hear your name and I'm aflame
Aflame with such a burning desire
That only your kiss can put out the fire

'Cause you are the lover I have waited for
The mate that fate had me created for
And every time your lips meet mine

Darling, down and down I go, round and round I go
In a spin, loving the spin that I'm in
Under that old black magic called love

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Now, now... This just came to mind having looked at this collection over and over... JPG is a reason to examine and adore couture. He has signatures, fantasy, skills, vision, humor, and understands how to speak to his ladies. Each and every season I hear in my head one of my very first mentors who pounded into me that “don’t forget he is first and foremost a tailor!”

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Even though there was a plethora of black and white pieces, the bright colors were fabulously welcomed here. What is intriguing here is that many of the fabrications are incredibly couture quality and not in a subtle way. They are as over the top as some of clothes. They are clothes that require a closer look.

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Couture to me is a way of furthering and experimenting with one's DNA and he certainly does it with great aplomb... Take for instance the trench then the pinstripes, then the suitings and then we can speak of the fringe festival which adds humor and possibilities to pieces that most designers do not have the skill to work with. IMHO nothing is quite as simple as it seems and yet there were exquisitely simple modern suits and gowns that would or could appeal to just about anyone of any age, he rarely if ever uses gratuitous sex tricks to shock since he takes care of that through the clothes and the bad boy styling that he has become so famous for.

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Just about the smartest move this man made was to exit the RTW business and focus on the amazing possibilities that are only offered in couture. Off on a tangent, I believe that what he did for Hermes was without equal and proved that he was a helluva lot more than shock and awe and shoulder pads.

Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture fall 2017

He is everything he is purported to be but most all of he is exactly who he is! Make no bones about it; JPG is a master when it comes to haute couture. It occurred to me that in a way he shows it as if it was ready to wear but if you know anything about him, this is balls out couture.

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The collection reminded me of his work at Hermès and I detected the Indian, as in India, influence with heavy sari-like draping which brings me to the next facets of the collection; some 35 years ago I was told by a mentor/retailer to remember that above all Gaultier is a master tailor at heart and you can surely see it here, he is the rarity who combines the skillset to drape and tailor like few others. 

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Gaultier embodies the soul of couture ... where else have you seen trapunto, fur, sweaters of chain mail, ribbon or sequins or sweaters of cashmere? The slickness and polish is overwhelming. He is the magician who combines the traditional with the unbridled imagination of an “enfant terrible.” He is head and shoulders above so many of his supposed peers.

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Without question this is a designer who embraces all that is couture while never straying from his vocabulary, the collections are products of tweaking and massaging  and creatively letting loose without bounds.  How lucky we are to still be an audience to the art and craft of haute couture created by one of the freest spirits to ever inhabit the world of fashion.

Jean Paul Gaultier & Valentino haute couture spring 2017

What can be said of these 2 collections other than one is positively and patently ridiculously minimal made with maximum labor and the other is a designer who designs and celebrates fashion in every way. It never occurred to me that there is such a thing as monastic and funereal frocks that are pale in color and yet here we have oodles of them here.

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Valentino is a yawn inducing exercise in how to make deceptively simple boring clothes with maximum pricing for little to no reason other than ego.  A friend referred to them as burial sheaths and that sure seems to be as accurate and apt as it can get. I see these clothes as heavily influenced by peignoirs, nuns, vestal virgins and night clothes and not in a sexy way. They are if anything erotically void and bland in the extreme, maybe you can just call them benign. Couture is about grand gestures and emotionally provocative clothes but it is rarely if ever boring; it may be “been there done” that or "it's been done before” or even just plain hideous BUT it is rarely if ever BORING! Apparently this designer has opted to stay his course and allow for the easiest comparison to his former partner who sticks to the same mindset and neither move on yielding 2 brands with less than thrilling collections. Take note of the slip dresses with straps too long as if to show off a sagging bust line and that silly tubular quilted bust line. Of course we can speak of the preponderance of duster coats and the complete absence of day wear but why bother... onto the next season of ennui and monotony chez Valentino. Sadly Valentino has lost the excitement and panache it once possessed. 

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Moving right along we arrive at destination Gaultier, home of the ribald color explosion and over the top presentation that has become a benchmark for the designer. He is a designer who designs, who massages and utilizes his DNA and produces clothes that are to be worn, coveted and collected by the cognoscenti of fashion. Yes, you must look past all the brouhaha and antics of each show but if you can see past that, you find amazingly beautiful well designed feminine clothes. 

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He is a celebration of fashion and of the haute couture with his flamboyant color palette and the OTT styling but what a joy to watch. I was told many decades ago, that one must always remember that Gaultier is a tailor at heart and he reaffirms that with fabulous jackets of every possible incarnation. Season after season the Gaultier vocabulary is defty spoken and season after season it remains strong and ever expanding, you might say JPG is expansive yet focused on all that he created and has yet to create. In essence it is distinctly and consistently what haute couture is all about ... taking fashion to the extreme especially in manufacture and embellishment … JPG is a celebration and homage to haute couture in every way. 

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