Editor’s word: To mark the loss of life of Jacqueline de Ribes, we’re publishing the Jean Paul Gaultier present she impressed, Divine Jacqueline. This spring 1999 couture assortment was offered in Paris on January 17, 1999.
In 1999, Jean Paul Gaultier was one of many solely French designers exhibiting at couture, which had just lately been infiltrated by the London upstarts Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. Although he’s all the time claimed to really feel constrained by the confines of Parisian bourgeois good style, Gaultier—who likes to play with Gallic stereotypes—has, nonetheless, been a form of protector of French type. That a lot was evident in his spring couture present, titled Divine Jacqueline. “Countess de Ribes is for me the incarnation of Parisian stylish. She is an icon; the pictures of her by Avedon made me love trend. It was solely pure that I dedicate a couture assortment to her,” the designer mentioned on the time.
The obvious de Ribes-isms had been the fashions’ upswept hair and make-up, however there was an air of restraint that was in line with her austere, basic type. Up to date reviewers famous Gaultier’s references to different iconic French designers, together with Madame Grès and Yves Saint Laurent; see the smokings and the beaded clothes. (The steel armature may additionally reference Pierre Cardin, who employed a younger Gaultier on his 18th birthday.) The references to YSL had been a lot remarked upon. As Saint Laurent had stepped away from ready-to-wear in October 1998 (Alber Elbaz acquired the job to hold on the road), business rumors prompt that Gaultier would at one level succeed him. That by no means occurred, however later that 12 months, the epitome of French luxurious in leather-based items, Hermès, took a stake in Gaultier’s enterprise. (In 2002, he grew to become artistic director at Hermès.)
One commonality between Saint Laurent and Gaultier was their penchant for denim. The previous mentioned he wished he had invented denims, and the latter included upcycled denims in his very first couture assortment. Julia Schönberg’s denim gown, which dégradéd into marabou, was a masterpiece with wit. Critics noticed Spanish affect within the closing appears to be like with followers, however these had been additionally a coquette’s “weapon” and they’re to be discovered in lots of a French portray, together with these by Manet, Cassatt, and Tissot.
