Paris Fashion Week Fall 2009Dates: Mar 4 -12, 2009  

 

DALLAS, Dec 13, 2008 / FW/ — In 1997, Jean Paul Gaultier dressed the leading characters of the sci-fi movie ‘The Fifth Element’starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich and Gary Oldman. In 1968, Paco Rabanne was the costume designer for the now cult movie, ‘Barbarella’.

Milla Jovovich as Leeloo wears a design by Jean Paul Gaultier
Milla Jovovich as Leeloo wears a design by Jean Paul Gaultier

To sci-fi buffs, the costumes are more than amazing; to the layman, most of them probably find the fashion weird; but to fashion observers, these creations by Jean Paul Gaultier and Paco Rabanne started new movements in fashion.

Jane Fonda as Barbarella
Jane Fonda as Barbarella

For Paco Rabanne’s Barbarella, the use of non-traditional materials in clothing began, which the designer had already introduced on the Paris catwalk. With the release of the movie Barbarella, it entered the consciousness of the mainstream. The result, fashion designers today do not hesitate using high-tech fabrics like Kevlar’s parachute fabric used by NASA in making a dress or a coat.

Fast forward 30 years to Jean Paul Gaultier who dressed Bruce Willis in an orange tank top and Milla Jovovich in a thick white gauze bandages used in hospitals. Orange became so popular that it became the new black, even earning a special mention in the movie ‘Legally Blonde’. As for Milla Jovovich’s ‘bandage costume,’ it was translated into evening gowns in more occasions that we can mention.

In an atmosphere of commercial viability and the need for survival, Paris designers have continued to put creativity and artistry above everything else. And, that is the reason why, fashion’s future still lies in Paris.

[MARI DAVIS]

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