Jean Plissé Gaultier in Africa (Fashion Wire Daily)

Fashion Wire Daily January 28, 2005 - PARIS - Limpopo, Zambezi and Kalahari were the names of the looks in the Jean-Paul Gaultier's African influenced haute couture collection, which, surely, confirms him as the most inventive designer in fashion today.
That’s a tall claim, we’ll admit, but one many people who attended the show in his rue Saint Martin headquarters left thinking.
Applause, cheers, prolonged clapping, gasps and shouts punctuated the show, a exceptional melange of African tribal influences, French fashion panache and perfectly executed staging.
A slew of beauties – Naomi, Dewi, Farija and Debra - toured the zigzag catwalk dotted with tiny podiums, where the Nubian beauties and magnificent Masai with dusted red faces rose in dramatic and delighted poses.
Conical bustiers with tribal beading, red-suited models with metal primitive track zip, geometric patterns on robes and masks and giant disc earrings – the mix was beautiful. Rarely have we seen models wear clothes so delightedly.
Gaultier's finale was exceptional – a series plissé robes sculpted to have three-dimensional faces – completed with a bride whose dress was a giant mask.
There was a sense of fashion team all working at their peak, with Odile Gilbert's amazing blonde Afro wigs with cornrows, Stephane Marais's warrior princess make-up and Frederic Sanchez’s soundtrack of jungle beat and Curtis Mayfield.
"I African art also influenced the cubists. It influenced me today,” said the designer besieged by fans post-show.
"I’ve always been influenced by mixity," the couturier added with a smile.