One of the things fashion lovers love most about Jean Paul Gaultier is his sense of spectacle: His real-life hit Fashion Freak Show is about to head to London, and if his fashion shows reliably start an hour late, it’s because the party is already happening on the runway—in this case with Champagne flutes, ice cream bars, and a great fluttering of fans—before the lights even go up.
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.
Backstage before the show, the designer noted that he’d composed the collection around the idea of hoodies, which he deftly spun out in a medley of conical ways, from a quilted satin parka with a fox fur print to a diaphanous teepee of a bridal gown with zigzag pleats. He raised sight lines, shoulder lines, and waistlines, and also made a point of using fur prints in lieu of real fur—it’s time to stop the massacre and tighten regulations, he said. In any case, if he ever decided he needed any, he could always dip into his archives, as he did for a few pieces here. A leopard pelt done entirely in sequins was upcycled from a piece shown a decade or so ago, its head and whiskers now flipped to the hem. Ditto for the “arachno-folie” spiderweb top in black velvet and white crepe, repurposed from a piece originally inspired by linebacker gear and freshly turned inside out and reembroidered, then paired with a matching skirt. One Vasarely-inspired fabric was a revisit, too. “I love the idea of something rising from its ashes, like the phoenix,” he quipped. The soundtrack, likewise, brought back some of the ’80s greatest hits—like Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It”—to whoops and hollers from the crowd.
In spinning feathers as plaid, print, or rainbows and Vasarely as catsuits, Gaultier showed that he has humor left to burn. One can only speculate what January might bring, when he celebrates his 50th anniversary in fashion. Here’s betting that it will be some party.