It's Panty Party at Jean Paul Gaultier!

How do you design for a generation that believes in "Nothing risqued, nothing gained!" , a time when runway looks are deemed conservative and the young things in limelight believe in voyeurism as the supreme form of entertainment? A case in point is the incident during Spring Summer 2010 fashion week which saw Rihanna alter a Gareth Pugh dress from the same season to provoke, shock and thereby enhance her recall factor.

So on one side you have the younglings daring to bare and on the other side the designers struggling to stay afloat in a sinking economy. Add to that the rich tightening their purses, probably investing their money elsewhere what with the stock prices plummeting and stars like Rihanna combing Paris to build a wardrobe for her next performance. And Jean Paul Gaultier realises which side his bread is buttered on, and comes up with a ready to wear collection not for the elegant ladies of pony riding classes but for the likes of Lady Gaga, Kate Perry, Rihanna and their clan who like flaunting their well toned bodies in little nothings!

He starts by naming the collection "G-spot" and before you raise a hammer, the G is for "guêpière", (the French word for "waspie" or wasp-waist) girdle and garter and all the other little things in your wardrobe, for his collection was a lingerie fest taken to the extreme with girls sauntering down the runway in delicately constructed cone-bras, corsets, basques, trompe l'oeil tights resembling stockings and French knickers, leaving the likes of MIA spoilt for choice and tempting the likes of Paris Hilton to consider wearing knickers again, all the while emphatically establishing Jean as the ultimate king of underwear!

Now to put some clothes on the models who had their names written across their chest or down their neck in Gothic style, Jean Paul Gaultier started with denim dungarees casually tossed on tough worker women dressed indifferently not caring much whether their lingerie is peeking out or not.


This was followed by an even tougher bunch of girls who looked as if they had just emerged from a knife-wielding-gang-war what with their Brenton striped tops slashed along the stripes and rewrapped around their bodies as tops and tight mini-dresses!


A closeup of the girls after their tough encounter shows them to be real dare devils with their hats cocked to one side and their tattered clothes revealing their pointy satin cone bras armouring and protecting their life and femininity!


The focus gradually shifts to another part where "once-fashionistas" deeply dissatisfied with the happenings on the street, decide to take law into their own hands and prepare for a guerrilla war of sorts, mixing their miniskirts, monokinis and bondage boots with traditional military wear of khaki pants and long trench coats!


Even the power wielding corporate barons of Wall Street and La Défense decide to give their support to this "we need no clothes" recession inspired minimalism by carelessly tossing their jackets over their "couture" lingerie serving as bullet proof vests and proving that what lies underneath can very well serve as outerwear!


Meet the leader of the brigand, ready for combat with her gun belt slung around her waist and stomach padded to protect against the on slaughter of bullets!


As the "lingerie revolution" gains currency, corporate women to athletes to young girls adopt the display of girdles and cone bras as the de rigueur way of dressing with the girdles serving as miniskirts and cone bras morphing into shoulder and bum pads!


The party girls dressed themselves in techno orange and lemon yellow dresses with enough emphasis on lingerie!


The red carpet looks were executed either as long flowing gowns puncuated with cone bras or girdles or as embellished gowns generously slit in the front to prominently display bras or as "Lady Gaga dresses" tightly hugging the body either as a long laced "corset gown" or as a shiny body suit with patches of black protecting the wearer's modesty!


It's noteworthy that the armful of leather gauntlets formed of brightly colored leather strips that hung loosely on the model's slim arms were in fact inspired by the plastic bangles worn by Rajasthani tribal woman!


The accessories were in tandem with the wild mood in the street with thick chains adorning the necks and ears, big bright plastic bangles bulking up the hands and bondage boots and heels protecting the legs!

Apart from the "extraBRAganza" on display, the collection offered mostly performance clothes befitting a rock star excepting a few tuxedos, trench coats and dresses! Overall a very entertaining collection, though tighter edition would have rendered the collection less repetitive!

Image Source:www.catwalking.com www.coutorture.com www.tribuneindia.com