Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s Shipwreck Fantasy for Jean Paul Gaultier Couture

When Jean Paul Gaultier announced Ludovic de Saint Sernin as his eighth guest designer, it was a moment of both excitement and curiosity. At just 34, de Saint Sernin—known for his unapologetic approach to sensuality and gender fluidity—would be the youngest to take the helm of the storied house. But his track record, from his eponymous label to his tenure at Ann Demeulemeester, proved he was no stranger to provocation or reinvention.

For Spring/Summer 2025, de Saint Sernin set sail with Le Naufrage (“The Shipwreck”), a voyage through Gaultier’s signature maritime universe, refracted through his own lens of seduction. Inspired by the haunting visuals of Seal and Mylène Farmer’s 2001 music video Les Mots and a striking ship-shaped headpiece from Gaultier’s 1997 archives, de Saint Sernin conjured a dreamscape populated by sirens, pirates, and spectral brides.

The show opened with a seafoam corset, tightly laced in de Saint Sernin’s signature style, paired with a scaled, sequin-covered skirt—a mermaid reborn. From there, a procession of characters emerged: leather-clad sirens, a barely-there bodice shaped like an anchor, and a mini dress with ship steering wheels in place of a bust. A veiled, ghostly bride swept through in ivory feathers, while pirates strutted in billowing lace and britches. Each look, bound by slicked-back hair and a veil of black fishnet, felt like a relic of a long-lost shipwreck, washed ashore in Gaultier’s Parisian atelier.

In true couture tradition, every piece was first a hand-drawn sketch, carefully executed to capture both de Saint Sernin’s precision and Gaultier’s exuberance. The result? A seamless blend of Gaultier’s signature irreverence with de Saint Sernin’s disciplined sensuality.

More than just a couture collection, Le Naufrage was an exercise in storytelling, a shipwreck as metaphor for reinvention. If whispers are to be believed, this may be the final season Gaultier invites guest designers into his atelier. If so, de Saint Sernin’s spellbinding voyage stands as a triumphant final chapter—a daring and poetic ode to the house’s legacy, set adrift into the unknown.