LOL that damn Eiffel Tower has made its way into so many of his HC offerings. It is all very Hysteric Glamour. I guess a clientele can demand an alternative design…???
There’s always a good dose of tackiness, camp and kitsch in all of them; from Gaultier, Galliano, McQueen to Ghesquiere’s Vuitton— even Armani is marinating in premium tackiness these days. But even with all the tackiness that’s threaded throughout Gaultier's sensibility, the very best of his can never be diminished. He’s in a league of his own.. Even with his strongest and most classic outing that’s best exemplified by his years at Hermes, that undeniable air of camp, but one that’s so refined a caricature of French bourgeoisie, was firmly tongue-in-cheek and not customey— just done so well, with not an image of the Eiffel Tower, Breton stripes, and tattoo print in sight, thank goodness. But his last decade was back to his Eurotrash show sensibilities and unfortunately, that’s what’s come to define his brand, his image and more tragically, his legacy.
HIs brand regressing back to his all-out campy eurotrash costume side must be a strategy to keep up and remain relevant with the current fashion times, of which is sadly the tackiest of any fashion era. When the likes of Harris Reed and Daniel Roseberry camp and drag sensibilities are celebrated as high fashion, it’s no wonder Gaultier’s tackier side is taking over in that eternal ego-stroking of “I did it first!” (….and he really did do it first…). I just wished his chosen guest designer for his HC were interesting and stronger candidates, instead of who's on trend.
You know I love Tackiness. But I love tackiness when it’s intentional, obvious, pushed to the max even.
What I think I can command from Gaultier, and for me his contribution to HC, was his fun, tongue and cheek but also cleverly inventive approach to it. He treated Couture like RTW. It became a laboratory for techniques, for styling, for everything.
The Eiffel towers here are tacky but it’s a result of experimentation.
But yes, compared to a lot of people, this is in a league of his own, particularly because it was a time where Gaultier wasn’t a prisoner of his references. This is obviously « Le Paris de Nikki » but there’s a lot of charm, allure and added references to the mix. I think the RTW FW2000 was more successful.
You know that I love his work for Hermes. The balance between the relevancy of his RTW at Hermes and the fantasy of his Couture was perfect.
JPG, maybe because he is a very popular figure, tends to go for very Grand public references, as someone who can embrace a theme. Because Hermes’s customers were older, his work took another dimension and gained in maturity.
There was no 80’s shoulders at Hermes! And god knows how good his tailoring was there. And he took the dressmaking at another level. I remember lace dresses that were fantastic. He is still imo the best designer who took the helm of Hermes.
I know there’s a mythology around Margiela but it was maybe too pragmatic for my taste. Gaultier added fun and fantasy to his pragmatism…Even when he went back to his old ways with collections themed around Tennis lol.
Also have to keep in mind that this was an odd season of couture shows. Not entirely bad, but just very in their bubble. McQueen's "House Party" show for Givenchy, Chanel's 80s Weimer Jetson chic courtesy of Karl, Dior's Eyes Wide Shut show, with Versace giving a very LA languid collection... Odd ideas as the turn of the millennium was in swing and figuring out how to navigate it.
FW2000 was really an odd season but I think that 2000 was an odd year all around for fashion because there was a need, an expectation for designers to express strong statements regarding what the new millenium
will be.
I loved Chanel and Versace for that FW2000 Couture season weirdly.
I have always thought that the Versace collection could have been a Valentino one. It was probably (with SS2000 Couture) one of Donatella’s smoothest collection and I think there she established her language.
Chanel was weird, in a good way. And it’s probably the first collection from Karl at Chanel where I can use that word.
A playful mix of influences and IMO an intentional desire to challenge taste, beyond experimentations. Because 1999 in Couture for him was mostly about experimentations.