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Byline: Hamish Bowles
At the storied premises of Hermes's Faubourg Saint-Honore flagship, Jean Paul Gaultier is putting on the finishing touches to his debut runway collection for the house. "Feel the quality!" he exclaims, poring over the satin-soft calfskin of a toffee-colored blouson. Then, with a salesman's practiced flourish, he runs his fingertips down the stab-stitched side seams on a pair of jodhpurs-"All, all, all, all, all is done by hand," he says proudly.
And then it is back to business, as Gaultier's effervescent public persona segues into the earnestly contemplative profile of the designer at work. He is very much intent on the task at ...