Following in the irate footsteps of Hedi Slimane, Times of London's Laura Craik, and Oscar de la Renta's WWD war with Cathy Horyn, Jean Paul Gaultier posted his own open letter to Style.com's Tim Blanks. On July 3rd, Blanks penned a negative review of the latest couture show, accusing him of working the "Women as Predator" theme to the "last nerve," criticizing his choice to use "down-market" model Nabilla Benattia (France's version of Snooki), and then eloquently called Gaultier a has-been: "[He] was once considered the one true heir to the throne of French fashion. But that was once upon a time, and that time has, sad to say, well and truly passed." Ouch.
Naturally, Gaultier took it to the tweets the next day.
Dear Tim:
Once upon a time you liked my shows “but that time has truly passed” and I respect it. But the Tim I knew before would never have made the attacks more personal than professional. I always had girls in my shows from different strata, treating someone as down-market is cheap.
In future, rather than be bored at my shows, you can use that time to do something else, for example brush up on your fashion history so you’ll know that “mille feuille de mousseline” didn’t echo Saint Laurent, it was inspired by a Nina Ricci dress from 1967 in homage to Gerard Pipard who recently passed away.
If you’re nostalgic for the time when I was considered the one true heir to the throne of French fashion please buy a ticket for my exhibition now in Stockholm and soon in Brooklyn and London. Good visit.
A former yours in fashion
Jean Paul Gaultier
Scathing, seethingly polite, and educational, Gaultier did quite well, right? He didn't even need our handy Fashion World Open Letter template.
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