Jean Paul Gaultier sent a breathtaking couture collection down the runway in Paris this week, along with an equally breathtaking guest star. Inès de la Fressange, the 51-year-old mother of two and former model (the first to ever sign an exclusive haute-couture contract, in the eighties, with Chanel) took two turns down Gaultier's runway. The crowd applauded when she came out. Heard on the Runway reports:

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 [by] his raunchy Spanish themed show.

Preach that, JPG. But the story gets sweeter: Inès's 14-year-old daughter watched the show with her little sister and told reporters Mom was nervous. Inès confessed she was intimidated hanging out backstage with the young models, "surrounded by all those sexy little things.” And at the end of the show, Gaultier got so excited, as you can see above, that he chased Inès down and tackled her on the runway (in a playful way). We've said it once and we'll say it again: Who needs the Super Bowl when you have couture?

View a slideshow of Jean Paul Gaultier's spring 2009 couture collection.

Gaultier’s 51-Year-Old Runway Star: Inès de la Fressange [Heard on the Runway/WSJ]
TO THE NINES [WWD]