Jean Paul Gaultier's collection was an ode to smoky Parisian chic—although at times it felt like an epic poem since those looks just kept on coming. Gaultier created a rain-drenched sidewalk as his runway became littered with cigarette butts in true Gallic fashion. His models came out provocatively dragging on Gauloises to a soundtrack featuring the soothing words of an anti-smoking therapist.
Gaultier wanted to create real-life looks that reflected "the chic and elegance of daily life"—for the chic Parisienne perhaps—and threw in just enough of his customary playful inventions. These included vests with collars that folded into integral jackets and opera gloves with pockets just big enough for, well, a packet of cigarettes. Gaultier has reinvented the trench coat masterfully in his couture collections, and they put in an appearance here too--black and narrow and cut to the floor or as a perfect little coat-dress.
If it wasn't the characteristic show-stopping Gaultier drama, this collection was about a quiet elegance that, like his couture collections, paid subtle homage to Saint Laurent. YSL touches included the jersey chemise--here reworked as a tunic over pinstripe pants, featherlight chiffon pleat skirts, stylish "smokings" and all those mannish trilby hats.
Gaultier, who was already an established design force the first time around, showed timely '80s touches like the stirrup pants worn with viciously high heels and the bat-wing sleeve that appeared throughout the collection—proving his talents for invention and reinvention.
