26 January 2012
Last updated at 07:12 ET

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Jean-Paul Gaultier: “She was an icon of fashion”

Fashion critics have delivered mixed reviews of designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest collection, which was inspired by the late Amy Winehouse.

The show featured models with huge, beehive hairdos, exposed bra straps and pencil skirts.

The Independent’s Susannah Frankel said: “This was not his most accomplished collection by any stretch of the imagination.”

But writing in the New York Times, Suzy Menkes called it an “exceptional” show.

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.

Gaultier was inspired by Winehouse, who was known for her quirky dress sense and beehive hair

“She was so exceptional in her style; how she held her body; the way she dressed, mixing pieces from different decades.”

The heavily tattooed star became known for mixing 1950 dresses with contemporary blouses and stilettos.

News agency, the Associated Press, said the “show’s concept was hard-edged femininity, dressed up with Gaultier’s signature touch of androgyny”.

The models were accompanied, on the catwalk, by a barbershop rendition of Winehouse’s songs, including Rehab to Back to Black.

Fashion Wire Daily’s Godfrey Deeny said: “In a generous return to form for Gaultier, the collection was a joyful homage to the troubled London chanteuse and her quirky bohemian style.”

The creations mixed floaty fabrics with tight bustiers

Winehouse died in July last year, aged 27.

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.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/entertainment-arts-16739662