Watch out! The Bolsheviks are storming Hermès! Oh, sorry, forget that. It s only dear old Jean Paul Gaultier up to his pranks again, taking the season s Russian mania in a naughtily communist direction for fall. No need to be too afraid: The Marxist-Leninist content of his collection boiled down to a few revolutionary caps (in butter-soft suede) and Red Guard fur hats (earflaps flying); a single constructivist intarsia knit; and a lot of Russian-themed music on the sound system. As for the rest, it was so conservatively superluxurious and feminine, it turned out to be J.P. s best outing for the house so far.
The main points of his manifesto were lots of shearling, tailored jackets in corduroy, and fit-and-flare skirts—a sort of ultra-upper-class parallel to what Christopher Bailey is up to at Burberry. Gaultier s sober pinstripe suits, classic gray flannel blazers, and even the reversible crocodile cinch-belted jackets, finally have that enviable softness that was formerly missing. Meanwhile, the designer found ways of running through the house s horsy heritage. Jackets cut from cashmere plaid blankets had fringe running down sleeves and around collars, and a crystal horse-bit brooch was pinned to a shearling hat. Even the famous Hermès silk print scarves were amplified for a fashion moment: sewn as the lining of a bronze metallic puffer or wittily smothering the outside of a Kelly bag.
Still, Gaultier s couture background means he can also be serious about cutting a mean evening dress. Hermès hardly has a reputation for after dark, but Gaultier s decadent, intensely purple velvet halter, and a long emerald velvet evening dress, ought to put the house on the party list this season. Though it s not quite the party comrade Lenin was thinking about.
