Amy Winehouse’s Father Upset About Jean Paul Gaultier Fashion Show

Models at the Jean-Paul Gaultier show paid tribute to the late Amy Winehouse
Models at the Jean-Paul Gaultier show paid tribute to the late Amy Winehouse

Jean Paul Gaultier debuted his new collection at Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday and the late Amy Winehouse served as inspiration for the show. Models walked the runway with the signer's signature beehive hairdo and dark winged eyeliner. They wore black veils for the finale and some even smoked cigarettes. A quartet of singers covered Winehouse tunes in the background.

Mitch Winehouse, Amy's father, was none to pleased with the Gaultier tribute. He told the Sun, "The family were upset to see those pictures, they were a total shock." He also felt like the show was cashing in on her image. "We're still grieving for her loss, and we've had a difficult week with the six month anniversary of Amy's death," he said. "To see her image lifted wholesale to sell clothes was a wrench we were not expecting or consulted on."

Gaultier never met the star, who died at the age of 27 in her London home last year, and told the New York Times that his tribute was sincere. "To me the scandal is that no fashion magazine did an Amy Winehouse cover," he told the Times. "She was so exceptional in her style; how she held her body; the way she dressed, mixing pieces from different decades."

Mitch Winehouse, however, is upset that the designer portrayed Amy when she was "not at her best." "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," Winehouse told the Sun. "It portrays a view of Amy when she was not at her best and glamorises some of the more upsetting times in her life. That's upsetting for her family."

After the singer's struggle with substance abuse and eventual death from alcohol poisoning, her father established the Amy Winehouse Foundation which hopes to bring healthier and happier lives to young people. He felt if Gaultier really wanted to pay respect to Amy he could have offered up a donation to the foundation.

Do you think Gaultier's fashion show was a suitable tribute to Amy Winehouse or do you think he should have consulted her family before using her likeness in this fashion?

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