How Olivier Rousteing paid homage to Jean Paul Gaultier: the Balmain designer’s one-off haute couture collection for Paris Fashion Week was tongue-in-cheek and full of drama

Jul 11 , 2022

Models walked looks featuring fake pregnancies paired with an homage to classic Gaultier bustiers as part of Oliver Rousteing’s one-off for Jean Paul Gaultier at the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week, presented on July 6. Photo: AP Photo

Rousteing’s show referenced Gaultier’s classic corsetry, Breton stripes and tuxedos – while Kim Kardashian and daughter North West attended in Madonna and Gaultier-inspired looks

Other celebrity guests included Spanish actress and muse Rossy De Palma, along with stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race including Symone and Gigi Goode

An enfant terrible appeared in a new guise on July 6, as designer Olivier Rousteing of Balmain took a one-off shot at a couture collection for the house of Jean Paul Gaultier.

An all-brown look from Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture autumn/winter 2022-2023 fashion collection presented on July 6 in Paris. Photo: AP

A work of heart from Jean Paul Gaultier’s autumn/winter collection at Paris Fashion Week presented on July 6. Photo: Xinhua

Such was the excitement surrounding the event that roads were blocked, tangling traffic in all directions. The show was – what else? – fashionably late. That may have had something to do with Kim Kardashian who arrived tardily with her daughter North West in outfits referencing the 1992 heyday of Madonna and Gaultier, who sat in the front row sipping champagne and laughing almost all the way through.

More waistcoat than jacket? Another look from the collection, with an obvious nod to Gaultier’s fascination for corsetry. Photo: Xinhua

Assuming the classic Gaultier codes – such as structured tailoring, Breton striped nautical tops and the conical bra – Rousteing let his hair down with an infectious and tongue-in-cheek homage to the great man, who retired from couture in 2020 after a 50-year runway career.

Encompassing edgy as well as ethnic vibes at the Gaultier Paris Fashion Week runway on July 6. Photo: Xinhua

It was all about the quirk. Rousteing took Gaultier’s torso-shaped perfume bottle “Le Male”, which features a metal strap under the nozzle – and turned it into several looks. Garnering applause from the enthusiastic audience, one model strutted forth with a metal choker, striped glass top and tin micro mini. Elsewhere the famed pinstriped men’s tuxedo jacket, with its voluminous proportions, was reimagined beneath a body-shaped corset.

This look channelled Jean Paul Gaultier’s famous exaggerated tuxedos of past collections. Photo: AP

A model wears an hourglass creation as part of Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture collection. Photo: AP

There were genuinely touching moments, such as when two models walked together in pregnant conical bra looks in black and flesh, touching their bellies. That was seen as a political statement supporting lesbians having medically assisted reproduction, something the French parliament allowed last year.

Rousteing’s collection referenced the Breton stripes that have also long been a Gaultier signature. Photo: Xinhua