In pictures: Simone Rocha impresses in Paris fashion show with Jean Paul Gaultier
Irish designer Simone Rocha, whose fashion show with Jean Paul Gaultier took place in Paris yesterday
After being named the next guest couture designer for Jean Paul Gaultier, Simone Rocha’s fashion show in Paris for the French fashion house has been hailed as a success.
During London Fashion Week last September, French fashion designer Gaultier invited the Irish fashion designer to show a one-off collection during Haute Couture Week in Paris.
The fashion show featured 35 looks, many with corsets and bondage harnesses, with corsets either left undone or tied tightly.
A model walks the runway during the Jean Paul Gaultier by Simone Rocha Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2024 fashion show in Paris. Pictures: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Gaultier’s legendary conical bra — made famous on the likes of Madonna — was reimagined as two silk thorns.
Speaking backstage after the show, Rocha said she found common ground with Gaultier in “a love of the breast and the hip and the female form”, adding that the project “felt like we were having a really natural conversation,” he told The Guardian.
Rocha also gave a nod to her Irish heritage in a strapless gown patchworked from pieces of vintage Irish crochet.
Gaultier said her show “went beyond what I expected.”
“She is very clever. It was so intelligent, as well as being so beautiful,” he said.
During the show, which took place in Paris yesterday, Kylie Jenner sat in the front row beside actress Kelly Rutherford and Chicken Shop Date Youtuber Amelia Dimoldenberg. Director Baz Luhrmann was also sitting in the front row.
Jenner, who is dating Wonka actor Timothee Chalamet and is also known for family docuseries The Kardashians, wore a cream bodice with a sheer overlay gown that was paired with a metallic platform shoe.
In an Instagram story, she called it a “beautiful” show tagging Gaultier and Rocha and shared images of herself wearing the outfit.
Rutherford, known for playing Lily van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, opted for more of an untailored pink Simone Roche look with a red bow from the latest dress rehearsal collection.
Rocha is the fifth guest couturier, following in the footsteps of designers Haider Ackermann and Olivier Rousteing of Balmain.
Jean Paul Gaultier began his career in the 1970s, making a name for himself with quirky designs. His signatures include corsetry, sailor-inspired stripes and cone bras – famously worn by Madonna on her Blond Ambition tour in 1990.
Gaultier announced his retirement in 2020, and since then his couture shows have been replaced with a merry-go-round of guest designers, giving their own spin on his style.
- Additional reporting by PA
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