Jean Paul Gaultier couture is homage to Amy Winehouse

PARIS (AP) - You could say it was back to black for Jean Paul Gaultier whose spring-summer couture collection Wednesday was an ode to the life, style and smoking-habits of late music star Amy Winehouse...

TheGrio Staff

Jan 25, 2012

PARIS (AP) — You could say it was back to black for Jean Paul Gaultier whose spring-summer couture collection Wednesday was an ode to the life, style and smoking-habits of late music star Amy Winehouse.

Like the British singer — who died at age 27 last year — the show’s concept was hard-edged femininity, dressed up with Gaultier’s signature touch of androgyny.

To a barbershop rendition of Winehouse’s songs, the creations channeled her eccentric mix of floaty silhouettes, silk nightgowns and tight bustiers.

Yards of revealing lace, corsets, huge beehive hair and, of course, the iconic pointy bra, including one with inset crystals, dazzled spectators.

In the front row, French icon Catherine Deneuve, who appeared in lingerie in the film “Belle de Jour,” seemed to enjoy it.

Bustiers in black and white with impossibly small waists and fitted short dresses in satin were combined with Teddy Boy jackets and dark masculine lapels. A floaty silhouette would be reined in by a rock-and-roll belt, waistcoats hung down over exposed bras, and lace covered reptile skin garments.

Gaultier confessed backstage although he had never met the star, their “styles had always been similar.”

But the designer still had his eye on the trends: one beautiful full circle dress in pink tulle and black lace ensured the show kept pace with the in-vogue 1950s shapes that have filled the catwalk this season.

In the finale, all the models filed past in sweeping black silk veils, a bittersweet statement for a show (and life) filled with fun.