Fashion shows

Jean Paul Gaultier Spring/Summer 2011 Collection

Held on Oct 2nd, 2010 |
Designer: Jean Paul Gaultier
City: Paris

Fitting for this season’s collection, Jean Paul Gaultier’s spring 2011 show opened with musician Beth Ditto and soon progressed into a parade of rock diva glamour.

No stranger to featuring thick, juicy models at his shows, Jean Paul Gaultier had Gossip leader singer Beth Ditto open the show and featured a few other plus-sized beauties. The show itself was a heavy head-banging nod to rock royalty Joan Jett. The models wore Jett-esque raven colored mullet wigs and some fashions that look like they came straight from The Runaways Japan tour back in 1977. I’m not mad.

Frederic Beigbeder and guest attend the Jean Paul Gaultier Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 2011 show during Paris Fashion Week on October 2, 2010 in Paris. After working for Pierre Cardin and Jean Patou, Jean Paul Gaultier set out on his own to create a womenswear line. The label’s gender-bending, deconstructed aesthetic, and risqué collaborations like Madonna’s infamous cone-shaped bra for the 1990 Blonde Ambition tour gave the designer his “enfant terrible” reputation. He’s also known as one of the industry’s master tailors, with a knack for tuxes, trenches, and leather, and a tendency to embrace equestrian, military, and royal tropes all with a sense of fun.

In addition to the ready to wear now licensed by Aeffe and including menswear Gaultier created a successful fragrance line, packaged in his signature torso-shaped bottles. His first couture collection didn’t come until 1997, but has been critically acclaimed since its beginnings. In 1999, Hermès bought 35 percent of the Jean Paul Gaultier company, which gave the brand capital to open up stores in East Asia. It also opened up another window for the designer; in 2004, Hermès hired him as head womenswear designer for the label.