Gaultier à la Rousteing

«Jean Paul Gaultier did not want to see anything from this collection. He only suggested me one thing, be yourself». This is how Olivier Rousteing described his one-off approach to the couture show of the historic Parisian fashion house, staged at the Rue Saint Martin headquarters among historical friends of the maison, such as Amanda Lear and Farida Khelfa, and supporters of Rousteing's work, starting from Kim Kardashian with her mother and one of her daughters. A union between Balmain’s creative director and the universe of the french designer which has many points in common and which has the flavor of a real celebration. 

From the inclusive vision of fashion, of which Gaultier was a forerunner, to the flamboyant conception of the show itself. It is impossible to forget Madonna, Gaultier's icon, who made an unforgettable appearance in a 1992 fashion show and who today has become a primary source of inspiration for tops marked by those conical breasts from The Blond Ambition Tour, which are ready to be found throughout the collection. A collection featuring a series of corsets designed to cage the bust, marinière motifs, tailored tuxedos and transformist pieces as a reinterpretation of Gaultier's archives that Rousteing, who drew no less than 200 sketches for this couture collection, visited.

«The looks took 400 to 600 hours to make», Rousteing added, «and each piece was made in the atelier». The accessories were also created with the same care. From sculptural platform pieces that mimicked the bottles of the fragrances, Le Male and Classique, to tubular booties that evoked their metal packaging, also translated into a real dress, to jewels including sculptural necklaces, maxi earrings that reminded rays wrapping around the lobes and futuristic glasses. Rousteing is Gaultier's third couture guest designer, following Chitose Abe of Sacai and Glenn Martens of Y/Project after the designer's retirement from the catwalks in 2020.

Like his predecessors, he also signed a men's ready-to-wear collection, inspired by Gaultier's Spring 1994 among tattoo prints and references to piercings and body art, with which the show opened. Closing it was Kristen McMenamy, protagonist of a small incident during the show: a fall in front of photographers dealt with class and irony, before the arrival of Rousteing and Gaultier, ready to greet the cheering audience in the street from the building’s balcony.

Judgment. A true hommage. Very respectful of Jean Paul Gaultier's archive filtered under the lens of Olivier Rousteing, who is not afraid to be all too didactic at times. After all, one was the enfant terrible de la mode and the other was its enfant prodige. Sooner or later the two souls were bound to meet. (All rights reserved)