Jean Paul Gaultier started the new millennium on a happy note. His spring 2000 couture collection, presented at the former home of the artist and art patron Marie-Laure de Noailles, was colorful and intricately worked.
In his typical melting-pot vein, Gaultier borrowed elements from all over, but this season he was particularly indebted to Indian clothing traditions. This wasn’t a one-note costume show, however. The opening look was a trench with an open back that turned into a maillot, which somehow worked, at least on the runway. Forward march through the lineup and there was also a multicolored tulle gown worked into a camouflage pattern. Not quite the thing for the shooting range, but marvelously constructed.
Tiered embellished skirts that could be worn, as Gaultier showed them, with a button-down shirt were especially crowd pleasing. For Vogue, Irving Penn photographed a gold-sequined column skirt and a mauve blouse with sleeves that fell to the floor medieval-maiden style, as well as the finale dress, a white cloud worn with a mother-of-pearl apron that was truly heavenly.
