By Sarah Mower

There was no misunderstanding the opening at least: the MGM signature tune and Lara Stone strutting petulantly in a leather trenchcoat, beehive, and giant pout—it was Bardot to a T! Jean Paul Gaultier always lets us know where we are at the outset, and for Fall, we were off on a movie buff's coach tour of the gracious wardrobes of Hollywood heroines. Ostensibly. In fact, it proved a bit of an elastic theme that at times meandered off script. It ranged so widely—from a Louise Brooks flapper dress and gilded fur coat to an ultrashort gold T-shirt under a black leather vest that looked like a possible choice for Lindsay Lohan—that it was sometimes hard to see where the designer was going. (Geometric-deco meets sci-fi was a particularly odd patch.)

Still, theme fashion shows are a dusty old concept in the first place. All that matters in haute couture is a strong voice, incredible workmanship, and whether a balance between timelessness and timeliness has been struck. Gaultier did all that by working in his stock characters and garments: the matelot, the androgynous lady in the pantsuit, the trenches, the smokings, the corsets. No one in Paris can top his tuxedo coat with velvet revers, the just-so cut of a pantsuit with a double collar, or the funny showgirl things he did here as an excuse to show the kind of corseting he's been doing since before Madonna was a star. As for the timeliness, he threw in a nod to sporty-casual chic (a notion that's raising its head with persistence this week) via overalls in both amethyst velvet and gold paillettes.

Goodness knows where they came from, but they seemed kind of right.

1) Lara Stone (IMG)

2) Tara Gill (VIVA)

3) Emily Trimble (FORD)

4) Kim Noorda (VIVA)

5) Karlie Kloss (NEXT)

6) Morgane Dubled (VIVA)

7) Lakshmi Menon (NATHALIE)

8) Alana Zimmer (WOMEN)

9) Alexandra Agoston (NEXT)

10) Yulia Kharlaponova (WOMEN)

11) Liu Wen (MARILYN)

12) Erin O'Connor (ELITE)

13) Patricia Schmid (NATHALIE)

14) Emina Cunmulaj (MARILYN)

15) Michelle Buswell (MARILYN)

16) Michelle Westgeest (CITY)

17) Sasha Pivovarova (IMG)

18) Tanya Dziahileva (MARILYN)

19) Eugenia Mandzhieva (CITY)

20) Heidi Mount (IMG)

21) Georgina Stojilkovic (WOMEN)

22) Natasha Poly (WOMEN)

23) Milagros Schmoll (NATHALIE)

24) Tara Gill (VIVA)

25) Emily Trimble (FORD)

26) Thana Kuhnen (NATHALIE)

27) Alana Zimmer (WOMEN)

28) Lara Stone (IMG)

29) Kim Noorda (VIVA)

30) Morgane Dubled (VIVA)

31) Alexandra Agoston (NEXT)

32) Karlie Kloss (NEXT)

33) Lakshmi Menon (NATHALIE)

34) Liu Wen (MARILYN)

35) Yulia Kharlaponova (WOMEN)

36) Erin O'Connor (ELITE)

37) Emina Cunmulaj (MARILYN)

38) Magdalena Frackowiak (ELITE)

39) Tanya Dziahileva (MARILYN)

40) Michelle Buswell (MARILYN)

41) Michelle Westgeest (CITY)

42) Maria Kashleva (NATHALIE)

43) Jean Paul Gaultier with Michelle Westgeest

Photo: Monica Feudi / Gorunway.com

source: style