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PEOPLE & ARTS Friday 5 July 2019
Gaultier goes fur-free as Saab channels Asian couture

By THOMAS ADAMSON ated Press. “I try to make
Associated Press as many jokes as possible in
PARIS (AP) — Fake fur and each look.”
authentic celebrities got all ELIE SAAB’S ASIA
the attention at Jean Paul Amid mysterious clouds of
Gaultier’s fall-winter col- Persian blue mist, Elie Saab
lection, while Elie’s Saab fashioned up a stand-
couture reached creative out couture collection
heights by channeling Chi- Wednesday using the sym-
nese mysticism during the bolism of China.
final day of fall-winter 2019 The Lebanese designer
couture displays. reimagined traditional Chi-
Here are some of Wednes- nese drawings through
day’s highlights: embroideries with sequins,
JEAN PAUL GAULTIER FAKES paillettes and sparkle that
IT depicted fauna and flora;
In a corseted gown, sing- elements, the house said,
er Christina Aguilera held that represent powerful
court at Gaultier’s fur- protective spirits in Eastern
themed, fur-less show with legend. “Nature, through
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” stars mystical creatures and di-
Violet Chachki and Miss vine characters, sparked
Fame, as well as French the curiosity of the design-
cinema icon Catherine A model wears a creation for Elie Saab Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2019-2020 fashion collection er, inspiring him to translate
Deneuve. Last November, presented, Wednesday, July 3, 2019 in Paris. them into his very own art,”
animal rights groups hailed Associated Press it added. Long diaphanous
Gaultier’s announcement the program notes, all con- GAULTIER HAS HUMOROUS Ciotti. Ciotti, a 36-year-old tulle, velvet and chiffon
that he is joining the grow- structed in marabou feath- PROGRAM NOTES screen and stage writer trains brought a magical
ing ranks of designers to ers. Leopard print graced Gaultier’s program notes who co-wrote the Gault- romance to Saab’s bread-
ban fur from their collec- a billowing chiffon gown, have become legendary ier “Fashion Freak Show” and-butter silhouette of
tions. Gaultier used this as geometric zebra stripes over the years. Each sea- musical, says he has been sexy, cinched waist gowns.
a muse for a playful fall- jazzed up diaphanous pant son, guests pour over the penning the couture notes Models with decorated ti-
winter collection that used look, and all this was fol- house cards that humor- for several years after first aras walked to Asian tradi-
feathers to mimic real fur lowed by a “panther” coat ously detail the couture meeting the humor-loving tional music.
on 1980s-themed looks with with oversize collar that was looks with tongue-in-cheek designer during a television There was some sophisti-
a funky retro soundtrack made with jacquard. word plays and rhyming show a decade ago. cated and thoughtful fash-
and flashes of bright color. A blood red silk coat, which puns. “Downtown Abyss,” “He realized we had exact- ion designs amid the show
An oversize Russian winter was the strongest look in an ‘’Black Panther,” ‘’Grey of ly the same sense of humor production — for instance,
fur hat, or chapka, looked excessively theatrical dis- Thrones” and “Mein Hair” and so asked me to write his the famed Chinese tradi-
initially like the genuine ar- play, opened up with its were among some of the program notes. He just tells tional dress, the Cheon-
ticle and shimmered along- wide collar as if to evoke a quirky couture look titles in me the show theme and gsam, was reimagined in
side a red “fox” bubble carcass cut open, albeit in this season’s lot — all the then (I) have free creative a light tuxedo-style with a
jacket. They were, so said a very elegant way. work of wordsmith Raphael rein,” Ciotti told The Associ- provocatively open bust.q

A rich mystery awaits in S.J. Rozan’s ‘Paper Son’

By OLINE H. COGDILL would not sell to black and has even less regard are distant relatives, they
Associated Press residents. Lydia, a Chinese for Bill, who is white. are still family. Adding to
“Paper Son” by S.J. Rozan American who lives with With Jefferson’s uncle, the tangled family tree are
(Pegasus Books) her traditional mother in Capt. Pete Tam, as their those men who are “pa-
S.J. Rozan’s affinity for little New York’s Chinatown, guide, Lydia and Bill ma- per sons” — immigrants
known facts about Chinese had never heard of Chi- neuver through the morass who convinced natural-
culture has fueled exciting nese grocers nor did she of bigotry and an eco- ized Chinese Americans to
thrillers featuring private know that she had rela- nomically depressed com- file papers identifying them
detectives Lydia Chin and tives living in Mississippi un- munity overwhelmed with as a son. In some cases,
Bill Smith. Memorable plots til a tragedy happens. Her drugs. Although the Tams these “sons” had never
include a Jewish settlement 23-year-old cousin, Jeffer- have lived in Clarksdale for met their “fathers.” A bit
in China comprised of refu- son Tam, has been arrested generations, the family still of money helped. Lydia
gees fleeing Nazi Germany for the murder of his grocer is disconnected from the and Bill were last seen in
(“The Shanghai Moon”), father, Leland. Despite the rest of the town. However, 2011’s “Ghost Hero,” but
political art (“Ghost Hero”) This cover image released by strong evidence, Lydia’s those family members who Rozan’s intricate plotting
and restaurant workers’ Pegasus shows “Paper Son,” a mother refuses to believe moved away to larger cit- and affinity for character-
union (“A Bitter Feast”). novel by S.J. Rozan. any relative — no matter ies have a different expe- ization is seamless, making
In the outstanding “Paper Associated Press how distant — could be a rience, including Reynold the reader remember how
Son,” Rozan uses the history sculpt a story about fam- murderer. She wants Lydia Tam, whose father married much we missed spending
of Chinese immigrants who ily, culture, prejudice and and Bill to go to Clarksdale, a white woman and who is time with these private de-
established regular grocery community. These busi- Mississippi, to prove Jef- running for governor of Mis- tectives. Rozan uses the his-
stores serving predominant- nesses took hold because ferson’s innocence. That sissippi. torical footnote of Chinese
ly black neighborhoods in the Chinese laborers’ jobs alone is a revelation since Chinese families are com- grocers as a springboard
the Mississippi Delta during building the railroads dried Lydia’s mother has never plicated, as Lydia explains for a rich, deeply satisfying
the early 20th century to up and white grocers who approved of her profession to Bill. While these people mystery.q