Jean Paul Gaultier – Haider Ackermann Spring 2023 Couture

Two slim figures in black suits - square shoulders, trousers pegged to stiletto heels - appeared in the distance and walked slowly across a vast, ice-blue carpet as static electricity fizzled and a heartbeat grew louder. When they approached, an onlooker discovered the jackets were tailcoats, one with loose threads scribbled like hand-drawn stripes, the other front with a jabot of origami-style pleats - a whole new approach masculine-feminine.

In a brilliant mind-meld, Haider Ackermann etched the formidable fashion legacy of Jean Paul Gaultier with his inimitable main - minimal and rigorous, but with a certain sexual warmth simmering underneath.

"Sometimes we forget the essence of his work, which was impeccable," Ackermann said after having kissed Tilda Swinton long and tight, and posed for photos with Gaultier, Catherine Deneuve and a torrent of well-wishers. "I wanted to get back to what I love about him."

In an interview with WWD last November, Ackermann cited a wish to exalt the quieter side de Gaultier - his couture prowess and couture magic - rather than the wackier, more theatrical creations that have grabbed headlines over the years.

"Sometimes all those millimeters are forgotten, how perfect the seam can be", a- he said at the time.

Each of the 36 neat and impeccably crafted looks that graced the runway on Wednesday night paid a powerful tribute to the Gaultier's work, while also reminding the fashion crowd of Ackermann's thrilling showmanship, his gift for striking color combinations and his flair for producing fashion fireworks with simple aesthetic gestures. /p>

His versions of tuxedos were all sharp angles, unexpected slashes here, and ribbon tabs slightly frayed there; her conical bras with artful folds of thick satin; his bomber jackets bristling with pin-shaped embroidery and his finely pleated mermaid dresses to suggest the female anatomy without photo prints, as the founder might have done.

An elegant suit with colorful feathers bursting from the sleeves at Gaultier's first couture show ago around 25 was among the designs that gave goosebumps to a young fashion student in Antwerp, Belgium. Ackermann used stiff feathers for a spiky pencil skirt, or popped them between the lapels of a killer black jacket.

Ackermann pared down the guest list, but the room was packed with famous faces and cultural icons, including artist Anselm Kiefer, filmmakers Baz Luhrmann and Wes Anderson, designers Julien Dossena and Olivier Rousteing, and actor Timothée Chalamet, who kept Ackermann's name in the limelight by wearing his vaguely futuristic cut — and sometimes a backless top.

The show included a few masculine looks that seemed expressly made for the "Dune" actor, in particular a prickly coat.

Ackermann is the fourth couturier invited to test one of the most formidable workshops in Paris and dive into one of its richest fashion archives after Gaultier retired from the catwalks in early 2020 after half a century of creation.

"Incredible," Rousteing, who unveiled his unique collection last July, told Gaultier after the parade, rushing to kiss her. "Magnificent", said Gaultier.

Ackermann was absent from the track for a few years, after going on hiatus from his signature brand, and he shot after his big comeback with fierce intelligence, terrific cutting skills and tenderness too. A statuesque dress with a rounded top seemed to nod to Gaultier's early days working for Pierre Cardin and the trousers came up past the chest and stood with suspenders for his intoxicating Madonna moments.

It was a bomber with an extra-long, wavy zipper in one of the first collections d'Ackermann who first caught Gaultier's eye and Ackermann made a version of it to tickle him again: a wraparound black hoodie, the zips arranged in ruffles.

"I realized we had a lot more in common than I thought", s' is he amazed.