Duran Lantink is beginning to settle into Jean Paul Gaultier.
For Spring/Summer 2027, Lantink returned to Paris with another warped take on the Gaultier universe. The designer’s fascination with manipulating the human form remained at the heart of the collection, but compared with the deliberately provocative propositions that defined his arrival at the house, SS27 felt more controlled.
Jackets were pulled tightly into exaggerated hourglass shapes, collars pushed away from their expected positions and trenches opened to reveal corset-like structures underneath. Tartan skirt suits, cropped shirting, denim and sharply constructed outerwear offered recognisable starting points before Lantink began twisting their proportions.
The body, unsurprisingly, remained his favourite thing to mess with. Gaultier’s cone bra appeared throughout the collection, although with considerably less ceremony than before. Lantink allowed it to flash through garments and become another component within the wider wardrobe. It was a sign of a designer becoming more comfortable with the codes he inherited, referencing Gaultier without allowing the archive to swallow his own point of view.
Lantink also played with the three-dimensionality of clothes and how garments change when viewed from different angles, an idea amplified by a show space filled with mirrors. The collection wasn’t necessarily designed to make complete sense from the front. Shapes projected away from the body, construction shifted depending on the viewpoint and familiar pieces revealed something different as models moved through the room.
Split-toe shoes brought another slightly surreal element into the mix, continuing the sense that seemingly conventional pieces could become strange through one carefully placed intervention. It’s an approach that ran throughout SS27.
Lantink has spoken about the importance of fun within the Gaultier studio, even as he insists the work itself is taken seriously. It makes sense at a house whose founder built a career on refusing to separate fashion from wit, sexuality and provocation. Jean Paul Gaultier himself was in the audience as Lantink continued working through that inheritance.
That relationship with the past is becoming more interesting with each collection. Lantink was appointed creative director in 2025, becoming the first permanent designer to take control of the house since Gaultier stepped away from the runway. Early on, he deliberately resisted disappearing into the archive. Now, the references feel increasingly natural, with familiar Gaultier ideas being absorbed into Lantink’s own vocabulary.
SS27 also arrives as Jean Paul Gaultier continues rebuilding its ready-to-wear business, with an expanded retail offering including footwear and a new Galeries Lafayette pop-up. Lantink hasn't suddenly gone sensible, but the space between runway spectacle and something that could actually leave the shop floor is getting smaller.
