Click images to enlarge.
Few remember Paper Dolls, the juicy early-80s TV show centred around the glamorous but scandalous worlds of modelling and cosmetics, but there’s no doubt that Jean Paul Gaultier does. With the silhouettes of models posing between red screens towering over the catwalk in the gilded, red velvet-clad hall of the Salle Wagram, his spectacularly staged show could have been a scene out of said TV drama. All the elements were there: the spirited attitude of his models as they strutted their stuff down the highly elevated T-shaped catwalk, the Heather-Locklear-in-Dynasty kind of ‘independent 80s working girl’ vibe present in the collection, and Coco Rocha posing ferociously for front row photographers courtside. Gaultier pretty much does what he wants, and for autumn/winter 13 he fancied himself some power women of the 60s, 70s and 80s. They materialised in mullet wigs and armour-like jackets, tops and skirt suits, echoing the designer’s iconic (and the word isn’t used flippantly) bustier silhouette. The motif of the backdrop screens eventually seeped into the collection, appearing as a sort of logo print on dresses and coats, before a tribal warrior or perhaps nomad segment of furs was followed by a series of deconstructed punkish dresses and leather jackets, which paved the way for the show’s final segment in the shape of sharply-shouldered, shiny uniform-like jackets and suits with a sci-fi air about them. It was the kind of show production fashion is known for, but rarely experiences, and a kind of craftsmanship you only get from a couturier.
Text: Anders Christian Madsen
Photography: Mitchell Sams
