PARIS — If fashion has gotten oh so serious and conceptual of late, often as a cover up for weak design, the seventh day of Paris fashion week delivered some much needed playfulness.
Jean-Paul Gaultier
The Jean-Paul Gaultier show notes, penned by Gert Jonkers, summed it up perfectly: “The feeling of freedom to live, to work, to make love, to design and to get dressed requires the desire and determination to play. Always.” This was Duran Lantink’s sophomore outing for the house built by the one and only enfant terrible of fashion, and unlike in his debut collection, Lantink’s determination to play took aim at the Gaultier archive in a very direct way.
Distorted tailoring and sportswear, burgundy velvet, aran knits, pointy breasts and a redesigned body were all part of the collection in ways that echoed the original sources filtered through Lantink’s unique perspective, a mix of the sculptural and the sexy — even the kinky. A skirt with a frontal protrusion in lieu of a boner, anyone? Brought to life by a cast of characters — from the cowboy to the policeman to the chanteuse — these were strange but potent silhouettes. The visual impact was powerful: a vision of dressing as a way to turn the body into a magnet, emphasizing muscles and erogenous zones, while also creating new ones.
The best pieces were those where the archive was less felt. Given that the Puig-owned label is built on sales of perfume, not clothing, Lantink has freedom to experiment, so seeing even more of him and his vision in the mix could be nice. Meanwhile, kudos for the daring!
McQueen
Over at the ailing house of McQueen, was there a hint of play in the will to dress women like les poupées? It wasn’t the best outing, truth be told: a short and dolly affair with a touch of the 1960s and little more. It hinted at a twisted take on bon ton, but it never really got there, and it was ultimately difficult to detect McQueen in any of it. Was it in the sharpness of the cuts? In the attempt at perversion? Lee McQueen had radical ideas about the state of the world which he communicated through the language of fashion. Today’s McQueen is mere clothing.