Gaultier is, says Di Felice, someone whose power to inspire is undiminished.
Jean Paul has always expressed a lot to people, he told me.
And its really Paris as well, you know?
Nicolas Di Felice of Courreges is the latest designer to take on Gaultier haute couture for one season. “I didn’t want to be inspired by only one collection, or a certain iconic look,” said Di Felice. “I thought about what really touched me, and what made sense to the way I work.”
Di Felice is telling me this via Zoom.
Clearly he feels no lack of personal connection.
And also, as the preview went on, its clear he felt no lack of aesthetic connectionor inspirationeither.
Nicolas Di Felice fitting his haute couture for Gaultier, a designer he holds in huge regard. “You talk to designers of my generation, to the young generation, everyone,” said Di Felice. “He’s a star.”
Thats itand even now I have probably said too much.
(You also get a little sneak peak below!)
Nicolas Di Felice fitting his haute couture for Gaultier, a designer he holds in huge regard.
You talk to designers of my generation, to the young generation, everyone, said Di Felice.
What we can talk about is the route Di Felice took to arrive at his Gaultier couture.
I mean, I have loved his work for a long time, so I knew lots of pieces.
All of a sudden, I was seeing a show from the 70s which was really amazing.
And he did so much that was interesting.
Not just the couture, but Junior Gaultier, Soleil, the jeans….
I thought about what really touched me, and what made sense to the way I work.
As I did this collection, I learned about that every day.
Most of the patterns are really geometric shapes, Di Felice said.
One collection he did look at was Les Touristes Japonaises au Louvre of Spring 1999 .
The set was a huge red circle, super radical, said Di Felice.
Ditto the Women Among Women collection of Fall 1989.)
Theyre passionate and nice people, he said.
[Always working with new designers] demands a lot of flexibility and intelligence and patience.
Its [a lot] to change artistic direction every six months.
I was really curious about so many of the techniques.
I learned a lot about myself, and my tastes.
And thank God what I wanted to work on [of Gaultiers past] hadnt been that touched.
One less-expected thing that guided him was that Gaultier song, How To Do That.
