Dior T-Shirts on a 4 Year Old. Spoiled Rotten?

Daily Mail

 

 

According to her famous father, she is simply a strong-willed little girl, one with a propensity for wearing designer clothes, red lip gloss and kitten heels in public.

No matter that Suri Cruise is just four years old, she already has a wardrobe worth over £1 million and, as her father Tom told Oprah Winfrey earlier this month: 'Whatever she wants to wear, she wears it. .. She's got great taste too.'

So much so, that mum Katie Holmes is said to have commissioned designer Marc Jacobs to create a pair of custom-made high-heels for her young daughter, whose wardrobe is so extensive it's now spilling out into a guest bedroom.

As the most fashionable child in the world, the ripple effect Suri creates as she trots around New York is being felt thousands of miles away.

Here in Britain, and the rather more humble environs of Baildon, West Yorkshire, 37-year-old mother Danielle Watson is having a pink Dior t-shirt made for her four year old daughter Tallulah.

Tallulah spotted the original ‘I Love Dior’ design being worn by Sarah Jessica Parker and in her mother’s words ‘fell in love with it’.

‘Tallulah may be only four,’ says Danielle, ‘But like Suri Cruise she already she knows exactly how she wants to look. Every night before school, we both choose what she is going to wear.

'Both of us like her clothes to look matched and coordinated. Depending on the weather, she will pick out a skirt and leggings or jeans, but her pumps will always have to match.

‘Tallulah is always on trend. Even her pants and vests match. And her outfits are always colour coordinated down to her socks and bobbles on her hair ties.’

New research by retailer Debenhams reveals that what has been dubbed the 'Suri Effect' means that British parents are now spending more than £700 on childrenswear every year.

The figure rises to £850 for girls – admittedly a mere drop in the ocean compared to the cost of Suri’s high-maintenance look, but still an indication of just how far parents are prepared to go to ‘keep up with the Cruises’.

According to the poll of 1,500 parents, celebrity children such as Suri, and Gwen Stefani’s well-dressed three-year-old son Kingston Rossdale are driving the lust for expensive designer style ‘mini-me’ outfits and leading parents to hand over sums equivalent to an annual family holiday.

It seems that the days of hand-me-downs and ‘Sunday best’ outfits are long gone.

Parents now buy an average of seven dresses and five pairs of shoes for their daughter each season, while over the same time period, boys are showered with ten new t-shirts and five pairs of jeans.

Danielle, who works in fashion PR and marketing and is married to a builder, is unapologetic about the £1,200 a year she lavishes on her only child.

‘As a little girl, I experimented with make up and to me it is harmless and just part of being a girly girl. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Little girls simply want to copy their mummies,' she insists.

‘It’s not that she wants to grow up quickly or I want her to grow up fast. In fact she is often running around in her dressing up clothes.

‘For me it’s important that Tallulah is well turned out and learns how to put clothes together. It’s a skill I feel will be important throughout her life.’

Recent purchases include three pairs of Ugg boots in pink, beige and black at £55 a throw.

Danielle adds: ‘But both Tallulah and I adore shopping and we usually go once a week. I must spend around £100 a month on clothes and shoes for her.

‘She loves to wear lipstick at the weekends and even has her own eye shadow. It isn’t toy stuff but samples from my make-up buys, such as Clinique.’

Danielle insists that the impetus for fashion comes from her daughter.

‘Many people seem to think when little girls dress like this, they are influenced by their mums. But Tallulah is always looking through fashion magazines and watching TV to pick up ideas herself.

'That doesn’t mean that’s all she’s interested in: she has a house full of toys, and loves reading books at bedtime and picking out letters as we drive in the car.

‘I don’t think there’s anything wrong with her experimenting. And it isn’t only me. My friends are the same with their children. We all turn up to school immaculately dressed and with our children immaculately turned out.

'I have never received any negative comments from friends or family about Tallulah. Complete strangers are always telling me how lovely she looks, which makes me feel wonderful.’

There are growing concerns however about this trend for turning young children into designer-clad miniature adults and about the forces that are driving it.

At a time when society is obsessed by beauty, looks and money some critics say it is merely another way to parade material success.

There are fears too that it blurs the divide between childhood and adulthood and draws youngsters’ attention to their own physical appearance at an age when they should be experiencing all the joys that unselfconscious youth has to offer.

And yet Lilliputian versions of adults styles are everywhere and style-conscious parents are lapping them up – Stella McCartney has now had several ranges for GapKids.

Designer Marc Jacobs has brought out a line called Little Marc which features miniature versions of his waffle-weave cashmere hoodies, priced at £250. He says: ‘I don’t think there’s anything wrong with giving a young kid a taste of the finer things in life.’

The French children’s couture house, Bonpoint, has even produced a limited-edition collection of just 66 hand-painted tulle dresses at a starting price of £350. The waiting list is, allegedly, already full with the likes of Kate Moss who is said to want one for her daughter, Lila Grace.

Further down the consumer chain, M&S has sold off-the-shoulder lurex sweaters for reception-age children, while women’s clothing store Zara produced Chloe-style sandals for little girls.

It’s hardly surprising then that High Street chains are rubbing their hands with glee as the ‘Suri Effect’ filters down to shopfloor level.

According to Kate Liszka, head of childrenswear at Debenhams: ‘The amount of money some parents are willing to spend on kitting out their kids in the latest catwalk fashions would pay for a family holiday.’

John Lewis has also noted changes in parent buying. ‘The trends in girlswear are reflecting what’s in fashion for womenswear,’ says Stacy Colvin, assistant buyer for girlswear and accessories.

Designs for boys are equally successful. ‘Children’s clothes used to be quite functional,’ says Ruksana Meach, buying administrator for John Lewis boyswear.

‘You bought them to last. Now people want something a bit more seasonal and exciting.’

Sophie Vickers, a 23-year-old administrator from Tyne and Wear reckons she must have spent about £20,000 on her 19-month-old son Theo.

A large of chunk of that was spent before he was even born.

‘I’d bought him 80 pairs of shoes before he could walk,’ she admits. ‘At three months I found out during a routine scan I was having a boy and went straight out and bought him a pair of Timberland boots. They cost £55 and he has never worn them but I couldn’t resist them.’

But Sophie, who lives with 25-year-old satellite television engineer Chris, hasn’t stopped at shoes.

‘Theo’s wardrobe is fit to bursting,’ she says. ‘It contains 40 pairs of trousers, 40 pairs of shorts, 40 T shirts, three leather jackets, seven hoodies, various shirts, ties and belts.’

Tellingly, she admits that such is the pleasure she gets from shopping from her young son, that she goes without herself.

I used to think nothing of spending £100 on a pair of Miss Sixty jeans for myself but now I will wear a pair of £10 jeans from Primark and splash out on Theo.’

With a salary of only £500 a month, there was never any chance that Sophie would be able to match the vast amounts spent by parents such as the Cruises, the Beckhams and Gwen Stefani and her husband Gavin Rossdale.

But she blew all her wages on trying to keep up with them, searching on eBay for babygros by Ted Baker and Diesel and changing Theo three times a day when he was a baby so he could be seen in the extensive wardrobe she completed with pieces from Gap, Next and Levis.

‘I probably had around 20 babygros, which was £350 worth, all in different colours,’ she says. ‘When Theo was first born, my entire £500 a month income went on him.

'I’m trying to be more sensible now, but it is hard. I know some people will think I’m mad, but I love it. I’ve never added up the cost but over all since he was born I must have spent £20,000.’

This vast sum includes the money she shelled out for four pushchairs.

‘I spent £400 for the first one, which is good for wet weather, and £195 for the second, a three-wheeler which I just had to have because everyone was buying them, and a third for £100 from Fenwick, which is my favourite. I’ve since bought a fourth to take on holiday as I don’t want my favourite one damaged in the aeroplane cargo hold.’

Her partner, not surprisingly, questions her extravagance. ‘Chris gets fed up,' Sophie admits. 'He often says to me “Just how many shoes can a toddler have?”'

At two Sara Weightman’s daughter Acacia, has only just started walking – but she already has at least 20 pairs of shoes.

‘It’s ironic that she is a late walker who is only now taking to her feet,’ admits 32-year-old Sara, who lives in Carlisle with her partner Darren McLean, a 32-year-old systems administrator.

Many of the little girls shoes have either never been worn or only worn a handful of times.

‘She had a lovely pair of faux suede boots but by the time her feet had grown into them, it was the summertime,’ recalls Sara. ‘Then I had sandals that she’d grown out of before it got to the summer.

‘There were also some red satin shoes I bought her to crawl in – only again they didn’t really go with anything so she only wore them a handful of times.

‘The pairs of Puma and Adidas trainers I bought her when she was six months old have only been worn once. The trainers were so pretty I had to have them but then I realised they would only look good with jeans and I prefer Acacia to wear a dress.’

To a certain extent it was inevitable that Acacia – a first grand-daughter on both sides of the family – should be spoiled.

‘Within weeks of the birth I had been given around 25 dresses – many from Monsoon and costing around £30 to £50 – plus more than a dozen pairs of beautiful shoes,’ says Sarah.

But family gifts were as nothing compared to the clothes purchased by her mother.

‘I love buying her shoes and clothes and so do her family and she is a proper girly girl who loves wearing them,’ says Sara. 'I also feel that how you present yourself is important and want to pass that on to Acacia.

'Darren laughs – although he loves seeing Acacia look nice - but I can’t bear to see her dressed in shoes that don’t match her dress, for example.’

Tellingly, Sara says she believes that lavishing her daughter with beautiful clothes will actually encourage her daughter to want to do well for herself in life.

‘When I was 18 my parents gave me a car for my birthday and I would only have to mention to my mum that I liked an outfit and she would buy it for me,' Sara says.

'But I didn’t come to any harm. Instead, I grew up wanting to do well for myself so I could continue in the same lifestyle.

'So I believe that as Acacia gets older she will want to be able to buy lovely things for herself.

‘I can imagine many people will think she shouldn’t be so indulged but I believe children should be spoilt.’

In Tennis, Fashion Police Look the Other Way

NY Times

Helen Wills Moody created a stir with her outfit at Wimbledon in 1935, much like Venus Williams has at this year’s French Open

 

Venus Williams’s serves have long been a big focus of her every match, but never more so than now.

Williams, the world’s No. 2 women’s player, has created quite a stir at the French Open by playing in a lacy, see-through black dress that she designed. Her short, flouncy skirt has photographers snapping furiously at every lunging serve, as the loose, frilly bottom flips upward to display near-sheer, skin-tone undershorts that reveal every curve, particularly from behind.

Photographs of her backside — Is she wearing underwear at all? — have stormed the Internet, much as they did in January, when she wore a yellow dress with a similarly nude look underneath during the Australian Open. Investigations of a personal nature have begun anew.

“It’s really about the illusion,” Williams said after a 6-2, 6-4 second-round victory against Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain on Wednesday. “Like, you can wear lace, but what’s the point of wearing lace when there’s just black under? The illusion of just having bare skin is definitely, for me, a lot more beautiful.”

Controversial sartorial choices have been a part of tennis practically since the game was invented. The permissible line — the hemline, sure, but mostly the metaphorical one — is broadly interpreted.

The Women’s Tennis Association Tour rulebook states only that players “will be expected to dress and present themselves in a professional manner.”

It continues: “A player shall wear appropriate and clean tennis attire and shall not wear sweatshirts, sweat pants, T-shirts, jeans or cut-offs during matches. A player may be asked to change if the referee deems it necessary. Failure to do so may result in default from a tournament and/or a fine.”

(The issue of “grass court shoes,” including details on the allowable diameter, height, slope and hardness of the “pimples,” consumes most of two full pages.)

No player has been fined for breaking the clothing rule, said Andrew Walker, the tour’s senior vice president for global marketing and communications.

He said that there had been internal discussions about Williams’s outfits, but that they had been deemed appropriate. Besides, during Grand Slam events, the local tournament officials play fashion police, using an almost identically vague rule.

The French Tennis Federation, which runs the French Open, determined that Williams’s dress and undershorts would be allowed. With all the attention they are getting, they may actually be encouraged.

Tennis fashion, so often an oxymoron, stirs chronic debate for both the professional men and women. Rules have not prevented questionable fashion decisions ranging from 1970s-era short shorts, Rafael Nadal’s pirate pants and sleeveless shirts, Roger Federer’s personalized courtside jacket and headbands, and Andre Agassi’s color-splotched shirts and faux hair.

But in tennis fashion, the deepest curiosity usually focuses on women and what they reveal. Suzanne Lenglen, for whom one of the major show courts at Roland Garros is named, arrived at Wimbledon more than 90 years ago, creating a sensation with her bare arms and a calf-length pleated dress. Helen Wills Moody, one of the game’s greatest champions, often wore skirts above her knees and a sporty visor.

In 1949 the American Gertrude Moran wore a short skirt at Wimbledon that intentionally revealed lace-trimmed undershorts. Court-side photographers crouched as low as possible to get a shot up her skirt. Moran, nicknamed Gorgeous Gussy, was appalled at the attention.

“We weren’t talking Frederick’s of Hollywood,” she told The Orlando Sentinel in 1988.

Some things never change. Three years ago at Wimbledon, Tatiana Golovin wore red under her white dress. After some scrutiny, tournament officials, in an official statement, ruled it underwear, not shorts. Red underwear was permissible.

The next year, Maria Sharapova wore a tuxedo-inspired get-up. It broke no rules, not counting those of good taste, according to her second-round opponent, Alla Kudryavtseva.

“It’s very pleasant to beat Maria,” Kudryavtseva said afterward. “Why? I don’t like her outfit. Can I put it this way?”

There have been other sartorial flare-ups. Anne White came to Wimbledon in 1985 wearing a tight, white bodysuit. At the United States Open in 2002, Serena Williams, Venus’s sister and the current No. 1 player, wore a skin-tight, short-shorted number that looked as if it might have been molded for a superhero.

“This is more of a cat suit,” she explained at the time. “It is not a wet suit.”

Bethanie Mattek-Sands is a premier attention-grabber. She wore a sort of cowboy hat at the United States Open in 2005, and said on Monday that she was fined $10,000 for it. Tim Curry, a spokesman for the United States Tennis Association, said Wednesday that the fine was $1,000. But Mattek-Sands has had referees approve and disapprove of her outfits before taking the court. “It’s really a hazy line,” she said. “So I think it’s cool when people push it.”

She has toned down her attire — now 25, she is more into tattoos, she said — but gave Williams’s lacy black dress an enthusiastic endorsement. Photographs of Williams on the Internet from the opening day of the French Open, she pointed out, gave tennis attention it probably would not receive otherwise.

Mattek-Sands said she tired of seeing Tour players looking and dressing so much alike.

“You see two girls, blond hair, wearing the exact same thing head to toe,” she said. “If I can’t tell them apart, no way a fan’s going to tell them apart. So it just brings, you know, something unique to the game.”

That is the attitude of the women’s tour, too. Players are brands, of a sort, and they can dress as they and their sponsors see fit, provided ... well, that is the uncertain part.

Williams seems unbound by convention. She enjoyed the mystery that surrounded her is-she-wearing-any Australian Open outfit, and she took delight in knowing that her latest design, meant to invoke wonder, had done far more than that.

The tight-fitting top has thin red straps and red piping for a corset-style look. Her push-up black bra and straps peeked out from underneath. She capped the ensemble on a cool and breezy Wednesday with a white visor.

A French reporter told Williams that fans surveyed in the stands mostly approved, and that one man said it was “good for my imagination,” although it does not require much.

Her sister Serena showed Williams a photograph from behind. Williams said she did not know that the undershorts would match her skin so well. And she is not about to change now.

“The design has nothing to do with the rear,” Williams said. “It just so happens that I have a very well-developed one.”

Fashion Goes Affordable with Zara

Hindustan Times

 

High-end fashion goes affordable in Delhi with Spanish clothing brand Zara opening their first store in the capital.

The flagship store of Inditex Group, Zara is a joint venture between Inditex and Tata's retail arm Trent Limited. It opened its first ever outlet in the capital at Select Citywalk Mall, Saket, on Friday. It was launched by former beauty queen and Bollywood actress Lara Dutta.

"With Indian women becoming more fashion conscious, we thought that this was the right moment to expand our base. The entry into the Indian market has a significant strategic importance as the country remains one of our top priorities in the Asian region," Jesús Echevarría Hernández, chief communication officer of Inditex Group told IANS.

The high street fashion store offers from classic to trendy and upmarket outfits in women's wear, men's wear and kids' wear sections. Those who crave for an edgier look will also get the clothes of their choice. The price of the outfits range from Rs.345 to Rs.8,000.

"We will be changing the collections twice a week depending on the customer demand. Our staff at the store will take note of what customers are looking for, whether they like more denims or whether they are looking for more cottons and we will fulfil their demands accordingly," Hernandez said.

"Fashion must not be expensive. We believe everyone should be able to afford it so we have kept the price range accordingly," he added.

The unisex clothing range is accompanied by wide range of accessories like footwear, handbags, scarves, neck ties and leather goods.

Asked if they plan to rope in any brand ambassador for their clothing range, Hernandez said: "We don't plan to hire any brand ambassador as we want people to decide themselves."

The group will also be opening an outlet in DLF Promenade, Vasant Kunj and Palladium Commercial Centre in Mumbai.

Other brands owned by Inditex Group are Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Uterque and Zara Home.

One Woman, One Dress, One Crusade

LA Times

 

 

For almost a year, Sheena Matheiken has lived her life as a calendar girl for sustainable fashion.

A New Yorker who is originally from India, she is the creator of the Uniform Project, a fashion blog that has steadily gained followers worldwide. The blog features the pixie-like Matheiken wearing one of seven identical little black dresses every day of the year, transforming the simple garment into a year's worth of eclectic looks by inventive accessorizing. She never repeats an ensemble. Think of it as an advent calendar for fashion followers, each day a new surprise. The dress can be worn frontward, backward, buttoned or unbuttoned. Wild stockings, colonial-looking collars, hats that vary from chic to the fantastically obscure, printed socks and covetable shoes change each day's look to something unique.

 Friday will mark the 365th day of the ambitious undertaking, which Matheiken created in collaboration with friend and former fashion designer Eliza Starbuck. With less than a week left, the Uniform Project (www.theuniformproject.com) continues in its mission to create a dialogue about sustainable fashion.

It's a delicate balance for Matheiken; while showing that one simple dress can be all a woman needs, she also has to feature fresh pieces to continue piquing interest in her project. Although the accessories are different every day, she carefully selects used, repurposed, vintage, handmade and recycled goods to create each look, and then auctions them off, with proceeds going to the blog's pet charity. Matheiken has been known to wear a belt as a necklace, use pants as a shrug or modify a skirt to create a dress. The result is nothing shy of astounding.

The blogger encourages consumers to "shop" in their own closets and reinvent a piece rather than throw it away. Additionally, the Uniform Project's blog provides an open forum for discussions on green fashion, and when Matheiken has collaborated with designers (who sometimes donate accessories) they must fit the project's sustainability approach.

Even with a serious subject like ecological consciousness, there's humor to be found in the New Yorker's everyday fashion trials. She leans toward what she calls "polarizing" items, the ones that can garner comments such as "HATE! HATE! HATE!" and "Want in every color" about the same accessory. One favorite was a hand-knitted "brunch necklace."

"It was literally like brunch all knitted: an omelet, bacon and cutlery, and it was huge. If this isn't humor in fashion, I don't know what is … needless to say it was one of the most loved and hated pieces, and it actually was auctioned off for a lot of money," Matheiken says.

Auction proceeds go to the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement that promotes education in India. The money, as well as donations collected by the Uniform Project via solicitations on its website, is used to pay for uniforms and educational expenses for children living in India's slums.

In January, Matheiken traveled to India to visit the organizers of the foundation, whom she had met at a conference in New York. She sat in on classrooms, met parents, visited Mumbai and Pune's slums and gleefully collected hand-painted accessories crafted by students enthusiastically contributing to the project.

"Meeting the kids was the best part. These kids are so incredible to work with. You don't see that thirst to actually learn here [in the U.S.]. These kids want to learn.... I now have this longstanding relationship with my home country," Matheiken says.

It's been a profound year in many ways for the blogger. The inventively attired Matheiken has raised more than $71,000 (and counting) for the schoolchildren in India, pranced in her LBD from her home country to London and back to New York and most recently quit her day job as a creative director at an ad agency. A possibility lingers for a book deal — the way the "Julie & Julia" blog on French cooking spawned a book and movie.

With less than a week before the close of the project, there's an undeniable weariness in Matheiken's voice during a telephone interview. The Brooklyn resident is already becoming nostalgic for the online community she created. "We got donations from Argentina, Australia, Italy, the U.K., Germany, Sweden, Canada, a lot from the U.S. obviously, from all over," she says. The site has received close to 2 million visits and gets an average of 5,000 hits daily.

In her last week of photos, in her standard LBD — or what Matheiken has become to call her "second skin" — she appears to be as happy as on day one. If she could go back, Matheiken says she would absolutely do it all over again.

Now sans a traditional job and equipped with an extraordinary collection of stockings —Matheiken didn't think anyone would want to bid on her worn tights — she is plotting her next venture. She hopes to continue merging fashion, sustainability and philanthropy, in some way. The blogger's wardrobe post-Uniform Project has yet to be decided.

"I'm very curious what I'm going to wear on day 366," she says, "because I have no idea."

Liberty's Pondexter Soaks Up New York

The Wall Street Journal

 

Cappie Pondexter wants it to be known: she is not the same person she was when she played college ball at Rutgers.

The point guard who took the Madison Square Garden floor Sunday afternoon in her debut with the WNBA's New York Liberty isn't the one who used to be harangued by her college coach for being "too nice" to take over games, or the one who once avoided telling her teammates what to do lest she might be considered arrogant.

Basketball is still clearly first, second and third in Ms. Pondexter's life. She has two WNBA titles and three All-Star appearances to her name. She's won another two titles in the Russian Superleague where she plays in the off-seasons. She's widely considered to be the best guard in the women's game.

But the player who drove and pointed, directed her teammates and scored 22 points during the Liberty's 85-82 win over the Chicago Sky Sunday hasn't just come to the sports world's biggest stage for a chance to show off her newfound assertiveness. The decision is also a practical one: She has ambitions for her life after basketball, too.

Last year, Ms. Pondexter and a friend launched 4 Season Style Management, a New York-based firm that offers private fashion and image coaching and consulting for professional athletes and other high-profile individuals.

Ms. Pondexter is not a household name in the way Los Angeles star Candace Parker is. Moving to New York from the relative obscurity of Phoenix should bring her more endorsement opportunities and a bigger pool of potential leads and clients for her burgeoning company.

"Right now we're just in the beginning stages and we have a lot of work ahead of us," said Ms. Pondexter, who describes her own style as "grunge, edgy, a little tomboyish."

"Look, we can't retire on our earnings in basketball like the men can," said Liberty general manager Carol Blazejowski. "Cappie's very smart. There's no better place for basketball or fashion than New York. She's starting a business and Phoenix is a small market; being here will introduce her to new fans on both the basketball side and the fashion side."

When Ms. Pondexter, fresh off a second championship with the Phoenix Mercury, asked for a trade to New York for her own off-court career prospects, it didn't quite have the gravity of Wayne Gretzky asking for a trade to Los Angeles—in part because his actress wife would have better prospects. But in WNBA circles, where she's a star of the first order, the shock was nearly as severe.

Ms. Pondexter won an Olympic gold medal in 2008 and followed her 2007 WNBA Finals MVP title run with another championship in 2009—and averaged 19.1 points, 4.2 assists and 5.0 rebounds while doing so.

Nike dedicated a shoe to her in 2007. Her photo appeared on a Wheaties box that same year and she now has her own shoe deal with Protégé.

Off the court, Ms. Pondexter, who has a Rutgers degree in sociology and history, is known in the league for having a megawatt smile and the sort of infectious charm that helps teams stay glued together. She is, as Ms. Blazejowski said, "a superstar without a superstar ego."

Ms. Pondexter said her company has worked with a few athletes already, but she knows that her basketball will have to help give her business a push.

Just one week since her return from winning the Russian Superleague title with UMMC Ekaterinburg, coach Anne Donovan said the guard has totally changed the tenor of Liberty practices. To maintain her focus on the game, she lives outside the Liberty's practice facility in Westchester and not in the middle of the city.

Coming back to the Northeast to play again, she said she can see both the progress she's made and the height of the challenges ahead.

"I'm 27," she said. "What you saw at Rutgers is totally different. I do things and I think about things I didn't then. I have to. How long I can play basketball is not in my control."

Kazansky Station Gets Gaultier Fashion Show

The Moscow Times

 

 

Across the road from the red carpet that was laid for a fashion show featuring Jean Paul Gaultier, two men negotiated a price with a prostitute.

“Can I touch?” one man asked the thin blonde outside the Komsomolskaya metro station. “Not before you’ve paid,” she replied firmly.

Haute couture swept into Kazansky Station for a few hours Friday night. Celebrities and would-be art buyers watched a retrospective of Gaultier’s work in the station’s VIP area, alongside the usual chaos that is Komsomolskaya Ploshchad — dirty, addled homeless people sleeping or crouching on the street, aggressive taxi drivers, and market stalls that sell shoes for 600 rubles ($20) a pair.

Speaking a day before the show, the designer said it had been his dream to stage a show in a train station — he has long wanted to do one in Gare de Lyon’s famous belle epoque Train Bleu restaurant — and he jumped at the chance when offered the Kazansky show, which opened the Chereshnevy Les arts festival.

“A train station is a symbol of traveling, and my collections are always a kind of travel,” Gaultier said.

It is doubtful that he knew of Komsomolskaya Ploshchad’s dubious reputation, however, as he said he had only seen photos of the interior of Kazansky Station — a cathedral-like space designed by Alexei Shchusev, the architect who designed Lenin’s mausoleum, with murals of planes and dirigibles on the ceiling — but he had not been to the station itself.

Russia is a mix of “romanticism and madness,” he said — and nothing could better describe a night that saw leggy models sauntering down in Mexican-themed costumes and clothes inspired by the film “Avatar” as adoring Moscow fashionistas sweated profusely. Fans without seats clambered onto palm trees scattered around the hall to catch sight of the show. 

“Russia is open to the world,” Gaultier said earlier in the week, adding that he was impressed with how young Russians dress. “I have the impression that now the rest of Europe is like an old sputnik.”

Gaultier, who last came to Moscow five years ago, met with clients at his boutique on Ulitsa Petrovka on Saturday.

Almost as colorfully dressed as the models on the catwalk, although much shorter, were a group of Roma women and children, who, on seeing Andrei Bartenev, the artist and designer famed for his outlandish costumes, rushed toward him excitedly upon his arrival. Bartenev at first attempted to run — not easy with his chunky shoes — but sensing a photo op, posed briefly as they snapped him on a mobile phone.

Bartenev could later be seen in the front row of the show, blocking the view of whomever was behind him.

“It’s a mockery,” said Ilya, a freelance designer who goes through the square every day on his commute, pointing to where the panhandlers normally stand as the crowd jostled to get into the show. “This is where all the migrants come. That underpass is where everyone goes to the toilet. It’s a mockery.”

Still, many of those without a ticket crowded around the red carpet to catch a glimpse of celebrities.

“Why not? We have a beautiful train station,” said Lyudmila, a train station worker. “Was the hall OK? It’s very hot. Everyone left as if coming from a steam room, like a banya.”

“I am wearing Jean Paul Gaultier,” said singer Filip Kirkorov, the only pop star as tall as the models on the stage, pointing to the orange net vest under his orange jacket. “It has holes — if you didn’t wear Gaultier, you were hot.”