Designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest collection, which was inspired by the late Amy Winehouse, was presented in a fashion show that featured models with huge, beehive hairdos, exposed bra straps and pencil skirts. Mitch Winehouse, the father of the late pop star, has criticised Gaultier, calling his catwalk show “in bad taste”. Speaking to The Sun newspaper, the taxi driver-turned-singer said: “The family were 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.” Gaultier unveiled the collection during Paris Fashion Week. Speaking backstage the French fashion designer admitted that although he had never met the star, their styles “had always been similar.”
The 59-year-old told the New York Times that he thought it was a “scandal” that Winehouse had never featured on the front cover of any fashion magazines. The heavily tattooed star became known for mixing 1950 dresses with contemporary blouses and stilettos. In November, a polka dot chiffon dress, which she wore on the cover of her hit album Back to Black, sold for £43,200 at an auction. Last year, clothing brand Fred Perry released a collection of clothes which Winehouse herself had helped design. The singer favoured the tennis brand, often teaming polo shirts with tight pencil skirts. Fashion critics delivered mixed reviews of the show, with some calling it “not his most accomplished collection by any stretch of the imagination”. Others praised the collection, calling it an “exceptional” show.
