PARIS -- Paris designers looked to Hollywood yesterday with haute couture collections that could vie for "best dressed" on the red carpet. French actress Catherine Deneuve and Spanish director Pedro Almod var gathered at Jean Paul Gaultier's headquarters for his show on the second-to-last day of the autumn-winter haute couture collections. Models wore the French designer's thematic velvet suits and ceremonial robes inspired by royalty.
Gaultier poached from men's wardrobes using slim tailcoats paired with tight leggings and thigh-high boots. A model done up as a tsarevitch proudly displayed two white foxes dangling from jet-bead shoulder straps. But it won't be all suits and robes on the red carpet for Gaultier.
There was plenty of evening glamour too, as models with hair woven into jaunty crowns swept past in lavishly embroidered gowns. Italian model Mariacarlo Boscono drew applause in a floor - length see-through black lace dress with a flesh-colored corset underlay. Gaultier has dressed celebrities from Janet Jackson to Nicole Kidman, who memorably wore one of his gowns to accept her Oscar for best actress in 2003.
He has also designed tour outfits for pop star Madonna and costumes for filmmakers such as Peter Greenaway , Luc Besson, and Almod var, with whom he worked on "Kika" and "Bad Education." "Gaultier has so much talent that he is even capable of submitting to the obligations of a film or character," Almod var said. "He has enormous qualities as a human being and an absolutely extraordinary talent for designing.
" The relationship between designers and stars goes back more than a century, when French actress Sarah Bernhardt stepped on stage in a costume by Paul Poiret , who is now the subject of a retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. What started off as a meeting between creator and muse has turned into big business, with some stars rumored to receive large checks in exchange for wearing a designer's wares at high-profile events. "Some of the celebrity dressing and branding is like fashion payola, like we have in the music industry," said Cameron Silver , owner of the LA vintage boutique Decades, who has dressed scores of stars.
Silver is also a consultant for Loris Azzaro and credited actress Diane Lane for putting the French label back on the map by wearing its creations to the Oscars and other red carpet events -- but he said no money exchanged hands. "I think when it works it's an organic match, it can't be forced," he explained. "You can tell the difference when an actress is in a dress that she loves or a dress that's paying the mortgage.
" The Paris shows will continue with a display by Italian designer Giorgio Armani , another favorite on Oscar night. PARIS -- Paris designers looked to Hollywood yesterday with haute couture collections that could vie for "best dressed" on the red carpet.
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