Faces to Watch
Jean Paul Gaultier
Many women dream of being able to own (or at least put their name on the waiting list for) an Hermes Kelly or Birkin bag. But the staid clothing designs from the 165-year-old French luxury goods company have never had a fraction of that allure.
Gaultier, who put men in skirts and Madonna in a cone bra, hopes to change all that. He will show his first collection as the newly appointed creative director for the horsey brand in Paris in March, replacing minimalist Belgian designer Martin Margiela. And the fashion world is atwitter over the possibilities: a scarf-print corset, perhaps?
*
Tom Ford
Will he direct films? Will he create his own luxury brand? Will he at last use his architecture degree and move into real estate or hotel development? Or will he leave it all behind and retire to his ranch in Santa Fe? Whatever he decides to do after he takes his final runway bows at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent after the fall shows in Milan and Paris in March, Ford’s departure signals a shift in fashion -- the end of the 1990s mega-brand, flesh, flash and logos, and the return to something quieter. His potential replace- ments are the subject of specula- tion from Beverly Hills to Paris. All of which is idle gossip at this point, since the company has said it will not announce his successor until after Ford’s last shows.
*
Louis Verdad
His 1940s hourglass-shaped pinstripe suits with razor-sharp shoulders and wide-legged trousers slit up the thigh and polka-dot dresses with puff-sleeves and trumpet skirts burned up the runways at Los Angeles fashion week in October. This talented tailor couldn’t have come from anywhere but Hollywood, influenced as he is by silver screen queens Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich, Dolores del Rio and Carmen Miranda.
First it was Madonna who came calling. She wore one of Verdad’s cashmere tuxedos when she smooched pop tart Britney Spears at the MTV Music Awards in August. The designer’s phone has been ringing off the hook ever since, with requests from Halle Berry, Kate Beckinsale, Jennifer Lopez and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Now, he’s plotting his next move, trying to decide if he’s ready to take his “gangster inspired” fall collection to the big-time runways in New York. It’s all about timing. As Verdad says, “I don’t want to be last season’s soup du jour.”
-- Booth Moore
