Saint Sernin takes turn to design Paris couture for Jean Paul Gaultier

PARIS — Fashion designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin stepped in to design Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture Wednesday at Paris Couture Week, reinterpreting the house's legacy with a collection steeped in his signature aesthetic of eroticism, queer-musing, and fetish-inflected detailing.

The evening show honored Gaultier's enduring themes — gender subversion, body-conscious silhouettes, and provocation — while layering in Saint Sernin's own stripped-down vision.

The opening look set the tone: Gaultier's iconic corseted bustier was reimagined with sharper, harsher lines, its corset ties and metal eyelets gleaming under the lights, adding an unmistakable kink to the house's vocabulary. A model with grungy, tousled hair reinforced the subversive spirit.

Saint Sernin, whose work is rooted in queer identity and nightclub sensuality, pushed these themes further through meticulously constructed pieces that blurred the lines between seduction and restraint.

Since stepping away from the runway in 2020, Jean Paul Gaultier has invited a rotating cast of guest designers to reinterpret his couture house each season. Saint Sernin joins the likes of Chitose Abe, Glenn Martens, Olivier Rousteing, Haider Ackermann, and Simone Rocha in taking on this challenge—each bringing their own aesthetic while working within Gaultier's codes. For his turn, de Saint Sernin immersed himself in the archives at Gaultier's storied Rue Saint-Martin atelier.

A silk caramel gown, fluid yet constricting, was wrapped with rope detailing across the bust—evoking a sense of gentle bondage. Another model appeared with rope encircling her arms, the imagery oscillating between elegance and entrapment. These elements, central to Saint Sernin's visual language, felt at home in the world of Gaultier, a designer who famously challenged notions of masculinity and femininity decades before gender fluidity became mainstream in fashion.