Mitch Winehouse, father of Amy Winehouse, has accused fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier of cashing in on the late singer's death by using her as the inspiration for his latest catwalk show.

The French designer paid tribute to the late "Back to Black" hitmaker during his show at Paris Fashion Week Wednesday by sending his models down the runway sporting the Winehouse's iconic beehive hairstyle and heavy eyeliner. Several girls were also smoking cigarettes as they strutted down the catwalk.

Mitch described how his mourning family was left in "shock" after seeing the late singer's image used "wholesale" for profit.

"The family was upset to see those pictures, they were a total shock. We're still grieving for her loss, and we've had a difficult week with the six-month anniversary of Amy's death. To see her image lifted wholesale to sell clothes was a wrench we were not expecting or consulted on," telegraph.co.uk quoted Mitch as saying.

"We're proud of her influence on fashion but find black veils on models, smoking cigarettes with a barbershop quartet singing her music in bad taste...No one asked us for permission or offered to make a donation to the foundation. This is purely about Gaultier making money, and that's wrong," he added.

Winehouse died July last year at the age of 27 after drinking too much alcohol.