There is anticipation for this runway show in a mass crowd of fashion movers and shakers. Jean Paul Gaultier’s collection, presented by Ludovic de Saint Sernin, brought out the drama. From hair to makeup and costumes thrown in, Sernin and Gaultier collaborated on an intense body of work.
Lights out, and the camera focuses on the front stage, leaving an air of mystery once it goes out of focus. Music illuminates a background of someone gasping for air, leaving the audience wanting more. A siren meets the gaze of onlookers and sets them in a trance while wearing the first piece of the night – a light metallic blue corset top and matching skirt with tie-up details caressing the outskirts of the hem. A figure on the runway showcased a brown knit dress in a wheel pattern, giving a tribute to a ship’s helm. Models follow with sexy “washed up on the shore” looks ranging from what some might perceive as a theme. Sirens/ mermaids, barnacle boys, pirates, and any key player crossing the mind around the sea – washed away any Gaultier naysayers.
Drapey curtains for the background and a model with wings foreshadowed some looks of the evening. The collection displayed many silhouettes of the sea. The ensemble has many consistencies, from tall leather boots with draped chiffon dresses to open-knit ones. Gaultier and Sernin captured the effect of seaweed wrapped into the shore after a big wave – a knit off-white dress with textured grassy detail mist along the garment’s curves with open-toe leather boots. Each garment took a form of its own. The show’s star was a red dress with rope detailing a wave down the shoulder into a pool of plush skirt fabric.
A story in every detail on the runway made way for the closing of an angelic presence. The corset dress in white with cascading big feathers from the waist down to the hem gave the drama its perfect calm after the storm. Gaultier and Sernin created a collection worthy of its praise.








