Steampunk fashion and sci-fi cosplayers. Since the first steampunk convention in 2006, SalonCon, there have been a number of similar conventions where enthusiasts dress up as characters from steampunk culture. Modern steampunk clothing is based more on leather and metal as opposed to cotton or natural fabrics. More recently, steampunk has also been linked to fetishism, the genderqueer community and modern paganism. In 2010, steampunk fashion entered the high-end market of fashion as designer John Galliano brought elements from the style to his spring haute couture show for Christian Dior. Another designer associated with the steampunk style is Jean Paul Gaultier, who
John Flett (fashion designer) at New York and Paris fashion weeks. Menswear was introduced to his range in 1986 and in 1987 he added a diffusion (lower-priced) line. By 1988, John Flett designs were available worldwide in 70 stores. "The Guardian" described Flett's brand signature as distinctively different for the times: "Along with John Galliano, who was a "[sic]" schoolfriend, he pioneered a new type of bias-cutting technique which imbued garments with a special fluidity and grace". Kevin Almond has said: "much of Flett's skill was in his cutting, intricate and inventive, with which he developed clothes that seemed to cling to the body.