Lantink delivered this article’s opening prediction while speaking to Phelps on yesterday’s Vogue podcast. He explained that this debut has seen him lean into the history of Junior Gaultier, the diffusion line that ran between 1987 and 1994 and found wide street-level currency. However, he added, he had yet to even peek into the house’s archives: “I decided to approach it a bit like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… I really want to go in, but first I want to imagine what’s behind that door and create a fantasy world.”
So did Lantink’s pure imagination deliver a bad nut or a golden ticket? Here’s what members of today’s audience thought.
Simone Marchetti, Vanity Fair Italia editor-in-chief and Vanity Fair European editorial director
In a season of fashion conservatism and beautiful, nostalgic clothes, Duran at JPG went in the opposite direction. His debut was disturbing and full of clever mistakes. Less than a breath of fresh air, it was a dose of homoeopathic good poison against nostalgia.
Bosse Myhr, director menswear, womenswear and childrenswear at Selfridges
Duran Lantink revisited some of Gaultier’s most recognisable motifs, including stripes, conical forms, and spirals, while also expanding them into new terrain. The surfacing of performance fabrics gives many pieces a sporty edge, but with a clearly hedonistic intention. He challenged gender norms by dressing men in skimpy partywear and dresses with the same revealing directness afforded to his women. And the beachwear riffs were especially daring: the bikinis and ‘mono-mini’ silhouettes push the body into a provocative geometry.
Nick Tran, head of buying and merchandising, Dover Street Market Paris
It was Duran turned on, up and around. Specific, challenging and fun — as JPG should be.
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