Paris couture: Nicolas Di Felice on Gaultier’s liberating influence, Elie Saab imagines arty dragon style

There is no more interesting experiment in fashion than the twice-yearly guest couturier collection at Jean-Paul Gaultier, especially this season when Nicolas Di Felice hit a bases-loaded home run.

Nicolas Di Felice, whose day job is creative director of Courreges, incorporated much of the space age minimalism of that brand into these clothes, but always with a decent dosage of Jean-Paul.

Especially morally, since Gaultier was a champion of inclusivity, long before the word became common. Four decades ago his cast include scores of transvestites and transexuals, the very people who are targeted by anti-woke reactionaries today.

Di Felice opened this show in Gaultier’s rue St Martin HQ with a half-dozen models wearing hijabs, which gradually became lace before being edited out as the show progressed.

“It’s tempting to do a best-of JPG. But when you think about it what he did was tell stories. That’s why each look in his shows had a name, like it could be 'The Miser' or 'The Spy'. So, I wanted a narrative, and for me that was him saying, ‘you can come to Paris and be really accepted.’ That’s why at the beginning, the faces were covered up, anonymous. But then they lose their clothes and are naked at the end. I hope you understood that?” Nicolas explained post show.

So, he referenced Gaultier’s long visual crusade for sexual liberation with a dozen corsets and bustiers. Cutting several sizzling bias-cut dresses in midnight blue taffeta or raw indigo denim. While his use of micro staples, darts, slits and geometric strips of organza was suggestive and quite simply sensational.

Often, these designer collaborations with Gaultier can turn into small battles of competing aesthetics, rather than perfect assemblages of differing tastes. They can feel like a 60's supergroup where the musicians are very talented, but the music never quite soars.

Not this season, where Di Felice’s ideas coolly dominated, yet felt blended with just the right dosage of Jean-Paul’s DNA. Climaxing with flesh-colored mousseline and soft pink faille in some gloriously erotic looks.

Di Felice was careful not to say he was making a political statement, with an election looming this weekend in Paris. This vote may well bring to power an extreme right wing party, which is outspokenly anti-woke, and contemptuous of the LGBTIQA+ community. And determined to create two classes of citizens, downgrading people born in France to non-French parents. And legally denying them rights to multiple positions within the government.

“Even if we live in a fashion microcosm, unfortunately not being able to be the person you wanted to be is still an actuality. That’s what I wanted to say,” added Nicolas, after staging the most original couture show of the season.

Elie Saab sought inspiration in a certain Slavic soul this season, but the impressive results as often as not recalled 'House of Dragon'.

His catwalk inside the Louvre was crammed full of queens and empresses striding with great authority to face whatever life threw at them in a grand court.

A quintet of supremely seductive looks opened this Fall/Winter 2024/25 collection, dense black crepe gowns cut on the bias. Satin leaves or coq feathers flowering from torso; trains extending a yard behind. A look toughened by elbow-length black leather gloves.

Gradually morphing into lace or guipure, dotted with metallic satin fabrics flowers. And made in Imperial Roman purple or glistening turquoise.

See-through silk lace columns, topped by marabou feather coats, like the superb version worn by veteran supermodel Karolina Kurkova.

Before a stupendous semi-sheer guipure column, shimmering with crystals worn with a leotard had hearts pumping in the audience.

A show that climaxed with some stunning rubbed décolleté gowns in stained burgundy, or pearl encrusted black, put one in mind of Rhaenyra Targaryen.

Paris couture: Nicolas Di Felice on Gaultier’s liberating influence, Elie Saab imagines arty dragon style

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