Amy Winehouse Family: Jean Paul Gaultier Show 'Upsetting,' 'In Bad Taste' (PHOTOS, POLL)

The most memorable of this week's Spring 2012 couture shows was undoubtedly Jean Paul Gaultier's homage to Amy Winehouse. The irreverent French designer sent Winehouse lookalikes, complete with beehive hair, swipes of black eyeliner and the occasional cigarette, down the Paris runway with the singer's signature bluesy voice wafting through the speakers.

Gaultier intended the collection as a wholly literal take, telling Women's Wear Daily, "I think Amy Winehouse was truly a fashion icon" whose style has failed to be honored by magazines since her July 2011 death.

But Winehouse's family did not appreciate the sentiment. The Sun reports today that Mitch Winehouse, Amy's father, expressed displeasure at Gaultier's unauthorized use of his daughter's image and memory.

"The family was upset to see those pictures, they were a total shock," said Mitch, according to the Sun. With the family marking the six-month anniversary of Amy's tragic passing just this week, Mitch noted, "to see her image lifted wholesale to sell clothes was a wrench we were not expecting or consulted on."

Her father also added:

We're proud of her influence on fashion but find black veils on models, smoking cigarettes with a barbershop quartet singing her music in bad taste."

Attendees of the show were perceptive enough to suspect the same. Women's Wear Daily pointed out that the show "felt at best ill-advised: a young woman who died tragically less than a year ago the fodder for an oh-so-feisty fashion show."

Some of Amy's friends agreed. Kelly Osbourne tweeted, "Although @JPGaultier was paying homage to my dear friend & icon to the world i found it to be lucratively selfish and distasteful!"

Surely Gaultier did not intend any offense. But one would think that with such sensitive material, the designer would have consulted the family. But when asked backstage, Gaultier admitted that he had never even met Amy but simply thought that their "styles had always been similar," according to AP.

See photos from the runway below. Do you think such a literal take on the fallen crooner's style was in poor taste or simply a celebratory homage?

Quick Poll

Was Jean Paul Gaultier's show in bad taste?

ABSOLUTELY. The show was utterly insensitive and tone-deaf.

NAH. He simply intended to honor Amy's iconic style.

VOTE

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Comments

[Sonyx575]

08:57 PM on 01/31/2012

Someone needs to tell the Winehouses that their daughter's look wasn't patented. In fact, she got the look from the Ronettes, who in turned got the look off the streets of Spanish Harlem in the late 50s and early 60s.

[Jeremy Elder]

09:26 AM on 01/30/2012

I don't see the big deal. Winehouse appropriated a look (that's been appropriated countless times before) and then Gaultier appropriated that. Also - Gaultier is wildly successful, his shows are endlessly covered and he doesn't need any gimmicks to get press. This might be a little ill-advised, but everyone is over-reacting. Including her family, who, if we're being totally honest, gave a few two many interviews after her death for me to take their hand-wringing seriously now.

[tam2128]

12:53 PM on 01/30/2012

The way family members behave immediately after a death in the immediate family (unexpected or not) has little or nothing to do with the reality. Most ,not all,people are in some form of shock,denial,numbness, and just an 'otherworldly state'. Trying to cope by any means possible. Men especially have occasional difficulty with their emotions and dealing with them while seeing the other family members sometimes ( females) openly weeping and mourning. So the men do what they think is expected of them. Hence all of the interviews and press. As time goes by the reality of the loss becomes so painful even speaking the person's name can be heartwrenching In spite of the continuing love for the dearly departed. It gets much worse befor it gets better I can say for sure.
The day to day coping is extremely painful because life must go on. Friends go back to their own lives and everything is back to normal. On the surface. There is the lost sleep,loss of appetite for everything from food to sex and the everpresent memories that pop up unexpectedly. A song,a smell,a piece of clothing ,anything at all stirs up the pain.
So six months on from losing their beloved daughter the Wineshouses are hit with these photos that are obviously 'Amy'. Out of the blue,no permission, no warning ,nothing from JPG.
Just the stench of capitalizing on the death of a beloved daughter,Amy.

[jfrank5317]

09:12 PM on 01/29/2012

No way would I have guessed this fashion show was a 'homage' to Winehouse...all the models
appeared sober and seemed to be able to walk upright with on assistance whatsoever.

[Caryn Banker]

06:35 PM on 01/29/2012

If the article hadn't told me it was "Amy Winehouse inspired" I would never have guessed it. It was very much 'Gaultier' with a bit of 50's parody infused. It's a fun collection, but the connection; being told it was created in homage to AW leaves a kind of pall over it, IMHO.

Gaultier is a very talented and successful designer without using gimmicks. Nothing I have ever read or seen about him would indicate he was the callous sort who would do this 'homage' insincerely, but the timing does feel very off. It just serves to remind us of the loss of that insanely talented troubled young woman. Just as a music fan, it makes me feel cheated all over again in losing her so young. I can imagine how the family must feel.

[Alicia Edwards]

03:10 PM on 01/29/2012

Love the collection, hate the fact he didn't invite the family into his creative process

http://bougiebohemianchica.tumblr.com/post/16712994565/was-gaultier-right-for-his-spring-2012-homage-to-amy

[ayisha]

03:09 PM on 01/29/2012

that show was an incredibly tacky gimmick to raise the profile and, hopefully, the sales of this line. designers pay homage to all sorts of people, so that part is not necessarily problematic, but given the recency of her death, you'd think he would have at least told the family or made a gesture of inviting them to the show. after all, if Amy was alive, would he have sent a line "honoring" her down the catwalk without so much as a heads-up? highly unlikely.

[LiberalLee]

02:19 PM on 01/29/2012

Talant or not, when it came to 'taste' Winehouse HAD none.
Getting upset because a designer tried to infuse at least a little into her memory is pointless.

[reganrd]

12:44 PM on 01/29/2012

The only thing in bad taste are the excruciatingly underweight models.

[Becca Bankston]

10:46 PM on 08/21/2012

So chill out and accept yourself how you are. If you truly did, you wouldn't feel the need to rag on people who are legitimately genetically thin.

[Becca Bankston]

10:48 PM on 08/21/2012

You should also be aware how the whole skinny model thing got started.
In the old days, it was only men who were buyers at clothing mfrs. The mfrs would trot out their models modeling the clothes. They used regular sized attractive women. The men buyers would spend more of their energy looking at the women's bodies than they would the clothes, so the clothing mfrs got in their heads that if they could find women who were shaped like coathangers it would be better to show off their clothes so the men buyers would not get distracted on a sexual level (because most men like women with a little flesh on their bones), so the clothing buyers started hiring excessively thin women who were fairly straight shaped with little curves (its also easier to sew garments for a straight board shape than a round ball shape). Anyway, it was all about being pragmatic.
Famous guys started dating models because in their circles that is who they saw a lot and the models, with their flexible schedules have more time to date the famous guys unlike high powered career women who might have less time on their hands. So basically all guys date who they run into in their day to day lives, basically "the girl next door" and for famous guys, the girl next door is often a model. And those models happen to be thin because the clothing industry needed humans who resembled coat hangers.

[Navycut]

12:20 PM on 01/29/2012

In no way was this an homage to Amy Winehouse! It was a cheap parody with the sole intention of garnering the attention that it has. This was an insult to Amy, her family, and all those who are suffering the loss of such a kind, beautiful, and imensely talented young woman! I believe it would have been appropriate for attendees to stand up and walk out en masse.

[enlightenedgirl]

12:01 PM on 01/29/2012

Amy Winehouse didn't re-invent the Wheel.  50's parody has been done since - well the 50's!  Betty Page, "Grease", "Rebel Without a Cause", heck, Marlon Brando in the early days.  While I admit Amy wore her trademark Bouffant, she wasn't the First.

btw - Amy wouldn't have worn 98% of the Collection.  Designers are inspired from everything in life, including People.  Bridget Bardot has been copied a Million times, just ask "Guess" but no one has said a peep about that.  Too soon?  Well, it's time to move on, one person doesn't own an entire decade.

[vistjezebeliv]

11:54 AM on 01/29/2012

I saw it like having a Marilyn Monroe emmulation. Amy Whinehouse was marketed. Its business as usual.

[AlexDamian]

10:51 AM on 01/29/2012

It wasn't the references to Winehouse that were so terrible to me as the worn out self-parody of Gaultier's designs. If a designer cannot freshen up his look after so long, I guess he needs to drag in a freshly deceased celebrity to get some press.

[Hardyman1966]

10:37 AM on 01/29/2012

Gaultier needed some attention and got it.  It's not offensive in my book, but it's too soon.

[enlightenedgirl]

12:02 PM on 01/29/2012

too soon for 50's parody?  o m g

[Pineapple623]

09:06 AM on 01/29/2012

From what I have read, his sentiment was to honor Amy Winehouse. Her style was and is iconic. She wore it so very well! And Gautier respected that - I guess. It is a compliment in my opinion. But I can understand how the family is upset since they just lost her...six months is not a very long time relative to the loss of a loved one.

While I looked at the pictures of the fashion show, I imagined what it would have been like sitting there during the show, watching the models prance down the runway, while Amy Winehouse's music plays in the background. I can see how it could offend some people's sensibility.

On the other-hand, if I had seen the pictures of the fashion show aside from this article...I would have not thought it had anything to do with Amy Winehouse - right off...the only similarities that I would have associated with Ms. Winehouse is the hair style on some of the models.

[tam2128]

12:57 PM on 01/30/2012

JPG should have consulted the family to see if they had a problem with it. Very poor judgement.

[mrsstuff00]

08:28 AM on 01/29/2012

If references to Amy Wineshouse weren't made I would never have put it together. None of the models reminded me one bit of her.