SS 10 Round-Up: Jean Paul Gaultier's and SS10 collection 'The G-Spot'

Jean Paul Gaultier SS10 RTW

Jean Paul Gaultier is a designer who knows no boundaries, and who has, according to Charlotte Selling (The Century of the Designer 1900-1999), ‘done more to extend the concept of beauty than many an artist, and has been a better spokesman for tolerance than most politicians’. It was to him Madonna turned for her 1990s Blonde Ambition Tour stage costume, for which he produced the iconic exaggerated conical breast bodice. In this move, he liberated the corset from the myth of its being a tool for the subjugation of women, and instead delivered a provocative display of Madonna’s free spirit, dominance and desire to be different. So, considering he practically invented the concept of underwear as outwear back in the 1990s, you couldn't’t expect this man, named by Dazed and Confused ‘the master of lingerie exploitation’, to ignore this season’s lingerie theme. “I wanted to get away from the increasing bourgeois understanding of fashion,” Gaultier told reporters after the show. “When I started there was a real desire to be individualistic and to mark our difference from one another."

This ethos can be seen in the collection. Where in comparison to Dior’s interpretation of underwear rich with femininity and romanticism, which bound and constrained the model both literally and figuratively with an image of sexuality for the man’s pleasure, Gaultier freed the woman to be wild and independent. His models had attitude and a rough and tough edge, with tribal and military and workman themes, often sending models down the catwalk in flat utility boots and workman caps. The conical breast bodice returned in a number of guises throughout the show: as the bodice of satin overalls; under green military skirt-suits and black trouser suits; as the bodice of a long peach dress and of a striped flowing maxi; paired with suspender belts and stockings and striped tights mimicking stockings; and in it’s most creative guise, as a tribal stomach piece.

Jean Paul Gaultier’s interpretation, as always, was entirely unique. Vogue.com comment that ‘to the initiated who've been following Gaultier since his Madonna days in the late eighties, it felt like territory he's explored many times before, and with a heck of a lot more subtly’. And to an extent this is true, the shape hasn’t changed, and neither has the ethos behind his work. But where I see the excitement of this collection is in how he dared to be different, and put his individual stamp back on underwear.

What Katie Did, who I posted on earlier this year in Vintage Undies, have been creating underwear inspired by these classic 1950s shapes for many years. I would highly recommend a trip to their Portabello Green shop, or Liberty where they are also stocked, if you want a more affordable route into this trend for SS10. Prices start at around £27 for the Harlow pointed bra. Whether you want to wear underwear as outwear as showcased by Dior and Gaultier, or just want something beautiful hidden underneath What Katie Did really gets the old-school vibe.

Madonna Blonde Ambition Tour 1990sMadonna Blonde Ambition Tour 1990s

Thanks to Style.com for all the catwalk pics