Photographed by Gabriel Karanfil

PARIS, October 5, 2005 - Jean Paul Gaultier's imagination spilled over into the barnyard this season, with a collection heavily spiked with peasant/gypsy dresses and pastoral- inspired panache. Sent down a straw runway in company headquarters on Rue Saint Martin, the rising fumes created an organic odeur that caused fashion editors to reach for their fans.

Interspersed in the melange were sharply tailored jackets for both sexes, and delicate prints that appeared to have been inspired by the bucolic landscape of Eastern Europe.

With Gaultier's hands full with his work for Hermès, and his own house in financial restructuring, some analysts have openly wondered if his attention might have been diverted. That mystery may not have been solved by Tuesday's show, but the solid workmanship of the collection left no doubt that Jean Paul Gaultier is a master couturier very much in his prime.

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