Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Collection Fall Winter 09-10 by David Gil

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Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture collection is one of the major creative events of the season that I long for. This year, L’Enfant Terrible who has grown into a multimillion euro empire was inspired by the divas of the golden years of classic Cinema. 

The show opened with Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Mépris in which Brigitte Bardot is at her bold bare and brazen best. In Le Mépris, Fritz Lang is directing Homer’s Odyssey. Brigitte’s lover (Michel Piccoli) is writing the script. But she believes he is using her to get the attention of American producer, Jack Palance. She ends up running away from Jack and dying in a car accident.

Gaultier’s interpretation of this tragic love story is one of his most iconic fashion pieces: The Trench, with perforated seams and hems like the edges of cinematographic 35mm film. Le Mépris leather Trench was lined with cinema film stripes printed on a satin organza.

Other names of dresses included Luis Bunuel’s Belle du Jour starting Catherine Deneuve, German expressionist film Pandora starring Louise Brooks, Roger Vadim’s Barbarella starring Jane Fonda ou Belles de Nuit by French Italian director René Clair …

The corsets were outrageously made in metallic silk satin, metallic leather and transparent vinyl. Silhouettes went from 20s-30s to hourglass with exuberant angular hips. My favorite pieces were the crocodile salopette with crocodile aviator hood. And the pin-stripped sparkling suit in metal mesh velvet.

By looking at Gaultier’s Couture collection, I have to wonder if contemporary economic crisis is going to become synonymous of timeless classicism, forcing blossoming creative experimentation to wait for better times ... I should have asked Kylie Minogue who was present in the show.