Back in the late ’70s and ’80s there was once a famous nightclub in Paris called Le Palace. It was where you would find characters like Grace Jones and Yves Saint Laurent – where fashion, music and underground culture intersected in a mythical blend.
The story goes that fans of, musician, Grace Jones once ripped off all her clothes from her at this venue. She then had to wrap herself in a scarf handed over to her by the famous designer Yves Saint Laurent just before she took to the stage to perform. It was the heyday of raw, artisanal club culture where people cared more about what they heard and what they danced to rather than what they wore or how was watching them.
This was the inspiration for Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture spring/summer 2016. Models gave each other a confident, carefree stare and they jetted past each other, hitting high-fives in the air, sipping on champagne and smoking nonchalantly. The atmosphere was intoxicating and, once the ’80s-inspired couture clothing sashayed down the catwalk, we stepped right into the vision that Jean Paul Gaultier had successfully created.
There was a men’s smoking jacket sashed at the waist with a silk braid and tassels, a tuxedo of white marabou feathers worn with fishnets, a one-shoulder lace-edged cape covered in crystals, striped sequin robes, pinstripes, bleached denim, power suits, a sequin dress, an evening dress with a jean jacket and oriental inspirations on prints and dresses.
