Jean Paul Gaultier has become the latest designer to hit back at his critics, posting a message on Twitter last night that began 'Dear Tim Blanks...'. The letter, a response to Blanks's review for Style.com of Gaultier's couture show presented in Paris on Wednesday, answered Blanks's accusations that the label had gone down-market and tore a strip off him for, apparently, mixing up his references.

Blanks wrote: 'A few outfits later, a 'millefeuille de mousselines' echoed Yves Saint Laurent's way with color, as a reminder that Gaultier was once considered the one true heir to the throne of French fashion. But that was once upon a time, and that time has, sad to say, well and truly passed.'

To which Gaultier replied: 'In future rather than be bored at my shows, you can use that time to do something else, for example brush up on your fashion history, so you'll know that 'mille feuille de mousseline' didn't echo Yves Saint Laurent, it was inspired by a 1967 Nina Ricci dress.'

Zing.

It isn't the first time Gaultier has responded to criticism bluntly – he has already banned Hadley Freeman from his shows for life, after she wrote a corruscating review of a 2006 couture collection, angry at the designer's use of fur.

It was ever thus: designers are sensitive souls; birthing a collection is an emotional journey and harsh words can wound. There is not much perspective to be had when one has invested so much.

I wouldn't like it much if someone told me a painting I'd spent six months on was dreadful, but then I am not inclined to paint, on account of having no talent for it. If I were better at it, I might try and accept that tastes often differ to rationalise the pain.

Spats go one step further when social media is thrown into the mix, too; before, designers could limit access, but now they can rabble-rouse. We've already had the Hedi Slimane vs Cathy Horyn spat on Twitter, in which the designer went further than Gaultier has, calling the New York Times's fashion editor an 'amateur writer' and questioning her dress sense.

The fact is, before the internet, designers relied much more on the words of critics – when they said 'good' or 'bad', it could really affect sales. Now that pretty much anyone can watch shows online, actual opinions matter less – viewers can make up their own minds – but the interpretations and analysis which come from seasoned voices are still crucial. It is the critics who explain the ways of God to man, as it were.

When the Gods explain it themselves, the message becomes rather one-sided. The balance has shifted, that much is true. Brands such as Saint Laurent and Gaultier have far more followers on Twitter or fans on Facebook than any one writer, and it's for them to make their own minds up.

Having seen the reactions at the Gaultier show this week, I don't expect any of the designer's devotees to abandon him. And, as he himself points out, the retrospective exhibition of his work, coming to the Barbican next year, certainly won't hurt either.