Tag Archives: couture

jean paul gaultier

The Divine Spectacle of Jean Paul Gaultier’s Last Show

Less than a week after announcing his retirement, fashion’s favorite troublemaker Jean Paul Gaultier presented his final couture show. The designer, who originally launched his eponymous label in 1981, spent over four decades challenging convention and consistently expanding the limits within the industry through his over-the-top theatrical presentations. A spectacular celebration of his countless contributions, the Spring/Summer 2020 show was a glorious victory lap for a truly groundbreaking career.

 

In the awe-inspiring 174-look presentation, which featured supermodels of the moment like Karlie Kloss and the Hadid sisters alongside alternative icons like Dita von Teese and Boy George (who started the show with a rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black”), Gaultier masterfully referenced multiple eras of his career in a way that was both nostalgic yet fresh. The cheeky pinned clothes looks which opened the show were first seen in the Spring 2003 collection. A series of nautical ensembles in the middle of the presentation were redolent of the designer’s own personal style — he frequently sported a striped shirt with a tartan kilt — and a nod to his vast fragrance empire. Who could forget the campy homoeroticism of the early JPG fragrance ads as well as those torso-shaped bottles? There was even an update to the timeless cone bra immortalized in pop culture by friend and muse Madonna. The designer clearly had an abundance of material to pull inspiration from, and yet rather than feeling limited by his own material, Gaultier was able to repurpose his work in a way that was familiar to his long-time fans while simultaneously introducing his legacy to a new generation. Just like he did with last year’s Supreme collaboration.

 

The show felt like a greatest hits collection but also served as a reminder for how far the industry has come and the ways which Gaultier pioneered some of these changes. He always made an effort to cast a diverse range of models long before the idea of representation dominated the cultural conversation and Teen Vogue articles. He designed men’s skirts and dresses before current genderfluid style vanguards like Ezra Miller and Jaden Smith were even born. And, due to the limited budgets younger couturiers are forced to deal with at the start of their careers, he was always resourceful in using discarded fabrics and unconventional materials and transforming them into sensational creations. Nowadays this would be considered a sustainability tactic. Jean Paul Gaultier’s departure is a sad loss, but the impact he left in the industry is not likely to leave the collective consciousness anytime soon. That seemed to be the overarching theme of the show: maybe gone, but never forgotten.

 

Watch the Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2020 Couture show below.

 

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After 52 Years, Balenciaga Returns to Couture

Over the weekend, Demna Gvasalia, former creative director at Vetements and current artistic director at Balenciaga, revealed that the Spanish label will return to Haute couture later this year. The last time Balenciaga presented a couture collection was in 1968, before the label’s founder Cristóbal Balenciaga shuttered the atelier and pivoted to ready-to-wear.

 

“Haute couture is the very foundation of this house,” Gvasalia told Vogue. “So it is my creative and visionary duty to bring couture back. For me, couture is an unexplored mode of creative freedom and a platform for innovation. It not only offers another spectrum of possibilities in dressmaking. It also brings the modern vision of Balenciaga back to its sources of origin.”

 

Gvasalia remains one of the most influential and polarizing figures in the contemporary fashion landscape — from ushering in the era of big ugly sneakers to selling luxury Ikea bags, the Georgian designer consistently finds new ways to troll and disrupt the industry. And since there will be a large Jean Paul Gaultier-sized hole in the upcoming couture schedule in July, Balenciaga has some big shoes to fill for Fall 2020.

 

 

 

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After 50 Years, Jean Paul Gaultier is Retiring

Well, this is a bummer. Jean Paul Gaultier, one of the most influential French couture designers ever, announced his retirement today on Twitter. His upcoming Fall/Winter 2020 show in Paris on January 22 will be his last.

 

“This show celebrating 50 years of my career will also be my last,” he said. “But rest assured Haute Couture will continue with a new concept.”

 

Gaultier has had a tremendous impact on the global fashion community and pop culture. He launched his namesake line in 1976 and was one of the first to blur the lines of luxury and streetwear — a master of trickle-up theory. His 1985 show featured a line of men’s kilts, long before the public was even talking about gender fluidity and challenging masculinity and all that. (A lifelong punk, he could often be seen sporting his own kilt.) His Spring/Summer 1990 collection is frequently cited as one of the most influential menswear shows of all time and was referenced heavily in last year’s JPG x Supreme collab. And, before I start rambling, he invented Madonna’s cone bra. Need I say more?

 

While it definitely is the end of an era, the designer announced that his brand will continue under new leadership and he has some additional projects in store. Watch the full announcement below.

 



 

dior fall 2019 couture

Dior Just Sent a Doll House Down the Runway

Dior‘s final look at its Fall 2019 Couture show in Paris really brought the house down. The made-to-be-viral doll dress (paired with a mesh veil) was a brilliantly camp ode to the historic French designer’s legacy and a new spin on the wedding dress. Creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri designed the spectacle with feminist artist Penny Slinger whose work explored gender and sexuality themes throughout the ’70s and ’80s. Slinger is known for her frequent use of dolls in her work, using them as vehicles to explore sensuality.

 

Watch the full Dior Fall 2019 Couture show below — peep the dress 12:27 minutes in.

 

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Kris Van Assche Steps Down from Dior Homme

https://www.instagram.com/p/BggIPI3DQ9Z/?hl=en&taken-by=kris_van_assche

 

After 11 years serving as artistic director, Kris Van Assche is leaving Dior Homme, the French designer announced earlier today. Former Louis Vuitton artistic director Kim Jones (who announced his own departure earlier this year — watch his final show here) has been announced as his replacement. Accordingly, Van Assche will be reassigned to another brand under the LVMH Group in the near future.

Kim Jones’ first collection for Dior Homme will be presented during the coming June 2018 Men’s Fashion Week.He will join the company of Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior women’s haute couture and ready-to-wear. His streetwear credibility is expected to seep through in Dior’s usually slim-tailored ensembles, as street influences continue to infiltrate the luxury space.