Gaultier’s 51-Year-Old Runway Star: Inès de la Fressange

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As always, this week’s Paris couture shows have been the stomping ground for stick-thin models with high cheek bones and clenched jaws.

But Jean-Paul Gaultier is not one to abide by rules. Despite the presence of singers Kanye West and Kylie Minogue, it was the former French supermodel Inès de la Fressange who stole the show.

As the voluptuous 51-year-old strutted down the runway, the crowd cheered this one-time French queen of the catwalk. Clearly moved, she turned to wave at old friends and slipped off a cream jacket in front of the cameras.

Mr. Gaultier, also caught up in the moment, chased the former supermodel down the runway and practically wrestled her to the ground during the final moments of the show catching her just before she fell.

Fashion models “are not just 14-year-olds,” Mr. Gaultier said later. “There are no [age] barriers to beauty.” The French designer explained that the curvy Ms. de la Fressange embodied the sexuality demanded his raunchy Spanish themed show, which also featured high-waisted pinstripe pants for women, suspenders and elbow-length gloves.

Ms. de la Fressange in the 1980s was the first model to sign an exclusive modeling contract with a haute couture fashion house — Chanel — and then went on to represent France’s symbol of femininity, Marianne. She described how she felt nervous backstage with the other models, “surrounded by all those sexy little things.”

Despite the warm reception from the crowd, she said her return to the catwalk was a one-off. “For me it was like a Sunday,” she said batting her eyelids. “This is not my job anymore.”

Inès De La Fressange Biography

Date of Birth : 11 August 1957, Gassin, Var, France

Birth Name : Inès Marie Laëtitia de Seignard de La Fressange

Spouse : Luigi D Urso' (19 June 1990 - 23 March 2006) (his death) 2 children

Trivia

Daughter of André de Seignard de La Fressange (b. 1932) and Cecilia Sanchez-Cirez.

Her French father (a marquis) was a stockbroker, and her mother was an Argentine model.

Her father was a Marquis de La Fressange.

She grew up in an 18th century mill outside Paris with three brothers.

Her brothers are Emmanuel de Seignard de La Fressange (b. 1956) and Yvan de Seignard de La Fressange (b. 1969).

Paternal grandparents: Paul de Seignard de La Fressange (1899-1947) and Simone Lazard (1899-1991).

Her grandmother was Madame Simone Jacquinot, heiress to the Lazard banking fortune.

Mother of Nine Marie d'Urso (February 27, 1994) and Violette Marie d'Urso (August 6, 1999).

Godmother of her daughter Nine Marie d'Urso is Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Is best friends with Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Two step-daughters Clotilde d' Urso and India d' Urso - daughters of Luigi d' Urso and Guendalina Levier.

In the 1980s, she modeled for photographer Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, becoming his muse, but in 1989, they had an argument and parted company.

In 1989, she became one of the series of models whose image represented Marianne, the French national emblem of reason and liberty.

She is now a businesswomen with a chain of clothing boutiques, a designer and a consultant for Jean-Paul Gaultier.