Is Jean Paul Gaultier running out of people to invite?
Jean Paul Gaultier's latest guest designer for his couture, Ludovic de Saint Sernin. Photo: Jean Paul Gaultier/Instagram
The pool from which to find designers capable of taking on the design duties at an established couture house is really rather small. There are, of course, those willing but not necessarily deserving. Which may explain why Jean Paul Gaultier could not cast his net wider for his couture, first introduced in 1997, and opened to guest-designers in 2021. He selected—the maison just announced—Ludovic De Saint Sernin, a relative unknown, compared to the other designers invited to reimagine Mr Gaultier's couture, such as the first, Chitose Abe (of Sacai), Haider Ackermann, Glenn Martens, and last season's Nicolas Di Felice (of Courrèges). The news have been met with divided opinions, with many Gaultier fans uncertain if Mr de Saint Sernin could do JPG couture proud. Yet, there are those who thought the latter would be a neat fit as he, like Mr Gaultier, enjoys playing with gender stereotypes.
Ludovic de Saint Sernin was born in Brussels, but raised in Paris. He is a graduate of the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués Duperré, where he studied womenswear. After working for "prominent fashion houses", as he described them—Ann Demeulemeester, Balmain, Dior and Saint Laurent, he launched his eponymous brand in 2017, which quickly established itself as the go-to brand for gender-neutral looks that explore gay sexuality. In a 2021 interview with WWD, he said of his label that it is "quite queer, gay, sex positive". On his webpage, he says that "his brand represents a return to beauty seen via the lens of sensuality and sexuality." Both he and Mr Gaultier have a thing for underclothes. It'd be interesting to see if Mr de Saint Sernin would introduce his version of the dudou (肚兜 or tummy wrap) that he personally dons often in place of JPG's "iconic" conical bra.
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