PARIS, July 1, 2006 - Jean Paul Gaultier said after his show on Saturday that
"men could wear the women's pieces, and women could wear the men's pieces".
And if you look at the whole of his career, Gaultier has made his name by
playing on androgyny, simultaneously relaxing the codes that separate the
sexes.
 The summer 2007 men's show was full of subtle nods to that theme. You could
see it in the cummberbund-crossed-with-corset belts that wrapped around some
of the guys' thin waists, in the skirt pants worn with stripped knee socks
and clogs, or the sleek quasi-feminine silhouette of a tightly tapered double
breasted suit seductively tossed with a feathery stole. With all the hair
extensions and hour glass figures parading down the catwalk, It took a series
of peeled back transparent tops to tell which models were girls and which
were boys. If only culture was to the point that girls could unveil
themselves like the boys, then these pieces could be worn publicly the way
they were presented on the runway.
Low riding jeans topped by transparent shirts, sequined vests, 70s-style bell
bottoms and shiny sportswear, intended as a nod to the World Cup (Soccer)
being played later in the day, reinforced the casual.
But the real message of the show was the power of seduction generated when
the sexes intermingle to the point they become interchangeable.
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Battle of the Embroideries
