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Gaultier dazzles with exotic autumn/winter line-up

A model presents a creation by French designer Jean Paul Gaultier for Hermes at its autumn/winter show in Paris on Saturday. PHOTO: AFP

Jean-Paul Gaultier fits like a glove at the luxury-led house of Hermes, as he demonstrated yet again with his impeccable collection for next autumn and winter on Saturday.

The oriental carpet runway and backdrop revealed the Silk Road as his inspiration.

Beautiful, tassled silk rope belts, satin paisley print dressing gowns and silk-fringed shawls wound into skirts. Headscarves, knotted behind the head with floating ties, gave an exotic dimension to the house's signature leathers and cashmere.

While some designers have even sent out their models bare-legged this week, Gaultier's girls were realistically well-wrapped against the elements in woolly bobble hats, bulky handknitted scarves, maxi cardigans and shawls.

Ponyskin and camelhair car coats, glove-fine leather waistcoats and skinny pants, suede and shearling jackets belted with mock-croc in shades of rust, olive, chestnut and caramel all bore the Hermes hallmark.

Elie Saab's forte is the witching hour. For next winter he showed lots of strapless chiffon gowns with fluttering ties and trains and sculpted bodices in contrasting fabrics like shantung and velvet.

In a break from recent seasons he shunned silver, gold and crystals, opting instead for strong colors: ruby, royal blue and emerald.

The paintings of Mondrian with their rectangles and squares in primary colors outlined in black inspired a whole sequence of off-the-shoulder chiffon dresses with black and white striped ruffles edging tiered skirts.

He transferred the same black-and-white geometric pattern to grand evening gowns.

Designer Paulo Melim Andersson's vision of the Chloe woman is a free-spirited bohemian who mixes and matches her style.

For next winter it is all about playing off the macho against the ultra-feminine: a man's overcoat in classic herringbone tweed over a multi-layered tutu skirt.

He presented a succession of floaty frocks in a pale paisley print with halter necks, frills, or smocked waistlines. To give them a hard, urban edge, he paired them with masculine-tailored coats.

The Japanese design duo behind the label Commuun, Iku Furudate and Kaito Hori, presented an austere collection relying on cut rather than opulent fabrics for effect.

Their stark high-collared coats without buttons flapped open. Sleeveless shifts poked out or puckered in unexpected places. The sleeves of a bolero were cropped to exactly the same length as the jacket. The folded front of a red dress, with nothing visibly holding it together, looked like origami.

It was a radical but interesting reduction of familiar fashion shapes.
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