JEAN PAUL GAULTIER: PARIS COUTURE S/S '10

I would love to meet Jean Paul Gaultier. Out of all the haute couture designers, he seems to have the most fun with fashion. He comes off as the kind of person who takes his work– not himself – seriously, and that is a very attractive quality.

For the Spring 2010 season, Gaultier was clearly inspired by Mexico as a number of his models walked the runway with intricately crafted, hyper-detailed sombreros (no two were alike, and they ranged from black veiled ones to flowered, laced, and ruffled ones), and later with beautifully styled banana leaves.

If one’s attention may have waned looking at the Elie Saab Couture looks, eyes were glued in entrancement looking at what made its way down the Gaultier runway. One look featured a cage skirt, while another saw one of the model’s legs covered in armor, while another featured pineapple-esque breast coverings (reminiscent of the French designer’s infamous cone bra that was worn by Madonna). There were even handbags that looked as if they were crafted out of banana leaves.

No not every look was head to toe wearable, and there were certainly more than a handful of looks that were thrown in purely for show, but taken apart there were a ton of pieces that could be worn straight off the runway, for the somewhat daring and fashion forward at least.

One side note, there were some pieces that looked somewhat bug-inspired, made out strips of leather that had been interwoven in a somewhat Bottega Veneta-like way. They bulged out at the sides and were cut short, and ended up reminding me of some outfits Lady Gaga has worn recently. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw her photographed in some of these pieces in the coming months..stay tuned.