Primary links
Jean Paul Gaultier made a tribute to the late Amy Winehouse in his latest haute couture collection shown this week in Paris. Garments, in Gaultier’s signature style, were worn by model’s sporting beehive hairstyles, flicked up black eyeliner and doll-like wedges. The spring/summer ’12 show included looks entitled “Brit Award”, “Victoria’s Secret In My Bag” and “Love Is a Losing Game”. Winehouse’s father Mitch, however, has spoken out against the fashion collection, stating that it is in bad taste and that the family were not made aware of the tribute prior to the show.
The clothes included wonderful corsetry and beautiful long trench coats, all in rich colours - pink, gold and chartreuse. Think Gaultier’s signature trashy luxe (but with a couture price tag). Long sequinned jackets were teamed with tiny girdle shorts and even suiting featured corsetry detailing. Another back-to-front polo shirt dress appeared in ivory sequins, another lace evening gown in fluorescent orange was fit for a true diva. Vogue called the show a ‘wonderful and loving tribute’ to Winehouse, but as all the girls appeared for the finale in lace mourning mantilla veils, was it too much?
Mitch Winehouse said, “The family was upset to see those pictures, they were a total shock. We're still grieving for her loss, and we've had a difficult week with the six-month anniversary of Amy's death. To see her image lifted wholesale to sell clothes was a wrench we were not expecting or consulted on. We're proud of her influence on fashion but find black veils on models, smoking cigarettes with a barbershop quartet singing her music in bad taste. It portrays a view of Amy when she was not at her best, and glamorises some of the more upsetting times in her life. That's upsetting for her family”.
I think perhaps it was too soon. No one’s denying Amy’s influence on fashion, but to pay tribute to the singer without even letting the family know seems quite thoughtless. After the star’s death, the Amy Winehouse Foundation was set up to support charitable activities in both the UK and abroad that provide help, support or care for young people.
