Paris Fashion Week: Jean Paul Gaultier’s fierce muse for Fall 2013

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Exquisitely tailored leathers, patchwork fur and punky toupées (that coiffed the models with wild two-tone hair): all the ingredients you might expect from a Jean Paul Gaultier show and then some.

The stage at Place Wagram was set like a Broadway production of Chicago; a double-tiered backdrop of square “cells” showcased about a dozen women frozen in provocative silhouettes. One by one each shadow came forward on the runway exuding a fierce don’t-mess-with-me attitude. Then, about 16 looks into the mix, a copy of the red and black checkered background reappeared as a print – at first on a butterfly sleeve dress, followed by a hoodie and eventually a pencil skirt, but most notably in a subdued pale green and grey palette on the fur-collared wrap-coat worn by muse-of-the-moment Jessica Stam.

More heart-stopping moments: the oxblood kimono-inspired robe with oversized obi tied over the hips, a floor-skimming shearling coat with a bottom-half frontal cut-out (all the better to see your legs, my dear!), plus Jean Paul Gaultier’s signature cone bras fused into leather peplum tops, followed by his mariner stripes placed strategically over a sheer tunic.

For the closing, two models in metallic suits marched in tandem down the T-shaped catwalk. The fitted blazers and tapered pants glistened under the spotlight. While one was clad in head-to-toe bronze, and the other in shimmery silver, it was a sensational finale of pure gold.