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Lucire: Fashion
the circuit



Top hatted Jean Paul Gaultier, fresh from the Festival de Cannes, had a nineteenth-century inspiration

Couture’s celluloid inspirations

Paris’s haute couture fashion week once again brought elegance and chic to the French runway. Lola Saab reports on Jean Paul Gaultier and Givenchy’s autumn–winter 2012–13 haute couture collections, both of which have a film connection
photographed by Patrice Stable for Jean Paul Gaultier and courtesy Givenchy

 
Jean Paul Gaultier - couture collectionJean Paul Gaultier - couture collection Jean Paul Gaultier - couture collection Jean Paul Gaultier - couture collectionJean Paul Gaultier - couture collection

Above Bringing together seductive models who embrace their ferociously feminine side and men portraying masculinity at its finest, Jean Paul Gaultier presented his autumn–winter 2012–13 couture collection.

Below Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy shows us the compatibility of vast soft materials such as leather, fur and silk.
Givenchy - couture collection Givenchy - couture collection

 

Fashion can define one’s personality: in many ways it brings forward the wearer’s vivid imagination. As summer began in the busy streets of Paris, designers prepared to present their couture collections.

 

Jean Paul Gaultier

There are designers who take their overly extravagant and sometimes outgoing creations deliberately to liberate women by the way they dress, symbolizing their exuberant persona. Yves Saint Laurent liberated women by allowing them to feel sexy in a pair of pants, a trend that broke barriers between both sexes. Similarly the legendary French designer, Coco Chanel, allowed women to breathe by eliminating the corset, which they were used to constantly wear.

While such designers attempted even the slightest changes that dramatically transformed fashion, Gaultier also freed men by introducing the ‘men’s skirt’ in 1985. Some may consider it as being a feminine garment but, in reality, it expands men’s wardrobes and adds to a man’s feeling of freedom in society.

Gaultier is an haute couture designer who also defines women in an overly elegant manner. His first step into fashion was in 1970 when Pierre Cardin hired the young 18-year-old as an assistant. He had no formal training in design but his sketches caught the eye of the famous couturier. In 1976, Gaultier presented his own first collection.

From then on, it didn’t take long for Gaultier to tread his path into the world of fashion, constructing original, stunning designs that people began to recognize and appreciate on the catwalk. One particular piece that comes to mind is the striped sailor’s shirt that appeared in 1984.

The designer has not only focused on menswear: women also have the opportunity to indulge and show off fun, fierce and flirtatious styles. Gaultier presented his new season’s collection in Paris on July 4, 2012. He once again brought together seductive models who embrace their more ferociously feminine side as the men portrayed masculinity at its finest.

In May 2012, Gaultier was a member of the jury for the main competition during the Cannes Film Festival, making it the first time a fashion designer would be involved. He stuck with the film industry’s vibes and designed his new collection following the theme of movies, and one in particular which screened at Cannes, called Confession of a Child of a Century. The film featured Pete Doherty, who made his film début as a nineteenth-century character.

With a shiny black catwalk and a dark red background, each ensemble stuck out like a three-dimensional image. Some models wore their hair tightly back, wrapped with a black band around their foreheads, while others wore nineteenth-century top hats. The show included the constant use of black balanced with blasts of gold, purple and shades of white. A metallic cape with gold lining highlighted chic, colourful textures. Gaultier has the capacity to add fabulous details that would surely make the wearer stand out amongst a crowd.

 

Givenchy

From Gaultier’s fabulous touch to Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, we move from modern chic to classic elegance.

When talking about fashion, one may easily associate the unforgettably beautiful actress, Audrey Hepburn. Many remember Hepburn’s pose embraced by jewels, wearing a high bun as she gave a half smile while a cigarette dangled from a large holder in her mouth. The highlight of the image revolved around the column dress she wore, designed by Hubert de Givenchy, whom she called her ‘best friend’ and whom he referred to as his ‘sister.’ The late beloved actress wore the iconic dress in Blake Edwards’ famous romantic comedy, Breakfast at Tiffany’s in the 1960’s. The new collection revived such a look with slight transformations according to Tisci’s extravagant taste.

Givenchy’s autumn–winter 2012–13 haute couture collection was presented at an upscale Parisian mansion. Givenchy’s shows are exclusive, presenting a few detailed creations that seem delicate to the touch but fierce to the eye. The magic in each of the ten designs presented falls mainly on elegance and grace that is intended to be deeply highlighted. The forms of each dress loosely hug the wearer’s waist and fall like columns. A woman of a taller stature is evoked wearing highly eccentric features together with capes and substantial eyewear; vast soft materials included leather, fur and silk.

Tisci proves how much less is more as he adds hidden detailed aspects that Givenchy is, and will always be, known for. •

 


Lola Saab is Paris editor of Lucire.

 

 

 

 

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