In the beginning, Jean-Philippe Worth was..

… obviously experimenting and testing his wings.  He had been working alongside his father, famous Charles Worth all his life, so he knew the techniques and concepts; he knew the marketing strategies and methods of marketing.  What he had to grow into was his own style, rather than a modified version of what his father had done.

His early sketches show an entirely different direction for the son to lead fashion into the next century.  This 1897 gown looks like Jean-Philippe’s up and coming concepts mixed in with his father’s old “fluff”.  It doesn’t seem to work very well.