© Words - Siane Daley

The Barbican Centre in London is hosting ‘The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier; From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk’ exhibition.  The first exhibition of its kind dedicated to the French couturier; it is a theatrical installation of 165 couture and ready-to-wear garments that encompasses Gaultier’s career from the 1970’s to the current day.

The ‘Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier’ will tour major capital cities worldwide, and was curated by Nathalie Bondil, Director of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, in collaboration with Maison Jean Paul Gaultier, Paris.

Dubbed fashion's 'enfant terrible' by the press from the time of his first catwalk shows in the 1970"s, Gaultier is undeniably one of the most important designers of recent decades. Interested in the world's cultures and counter-cultures, Gaultier has constructed a new kind of fashion in both the way it is worn and made. "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier", reveals how Gaultier erases the boundaries between cultures and also between the sexes; re-defining the idea of androgyny and subverting hyper-sexualised fashion codes.

Gaultier says; “I am excited that the show is coming to London for two reasons. The first is that London for me, is a special place. In England, I’ve got so many memories and had so many experiences there. I like the spirit, the humour and the little adventures that were funny, like (the TV show) Eurotrash. The English were the first ones to come to my shows and appreciate my fashion. The second thing is the Barbican itself; it is an honour for me because it is a wonderful gallery and a wonderful place with extraordinary architecture, and I think that showing my work there will be beautiful”.

Celebrating Gaultier's creative development and influences from the streets of Paris to the DIY aesthetic of the London Punk scene, "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier" is organised into eight thematic sections that span his illustrious career. These sections are; The Odyssey of Jean Paul Gaultier, Punk Cancan, Muses, The Boudoir, Metropolis, Euro trash, Skin Deep and Urban Jungle.

The "Odyssey" room features life-size models of sailors wearing Breton-stripes, now synonymous with Jean Paul Gaultier's  French-emblematic designs and own personal style.  (Jean Paul Gaultier originally designed the Breton stripes and other costumes for the film "The City of Lost Children"). These life-sized installations, cleverly-designed by Jolicoeur International, directly talk to the audience due to their life-like faces and hologram technology. An installation model of Gaultier himself greets visitors and talks about the exhibition itself.



The "Punk Cancan" room shows the influence on Jean Paul Gaultier of the interwar years of Toulouse Lautrec and the Moulin Rouge. Gaultier was heavily influenced by his exposure to London's 'punk' scene as a young designer, and Punk Cancan shows Gaultier's fusion of punk-sensibility with Parisian haute-couture. Here we see Union Jack, tartan and leather ensemble pieces, paired with flamboyant, metre-high punk head dresses designed by renowned hair stylist, Odile Gilbert. Gaultier recalls this early part of his career, "It's like a Parisian Punkette", he states, "You know, originally the punks were English, so it's the French version of punk which means a kind of bourgeois". Also featured is a fashion tribute to Amy Winehouse, titled "Stronger than me" 2012. The models wear Winehouse's distinctive-style including 50's silhouette pencil-skirts, fitted blouses and Winehouse’s inimitable striped- beehive hairstyle. The interactive nature of the exhibition is captured by the moving carousel of models which mimics a catwalk show. The audience is invited to interact with and critique this catwalk show' as there are front-row ('frow') seating adjacent to the catwalk, as well as a call-sheet listing the different designs.

The "Muses" room features models, photographers and cultural-zeitgeist who have influenced Gaultier's creative designs. He placed adverts asking for non-conventional models to use in his fashion and print campaigns. Gaultier wrote; ' 'Non-conformist fashion designer seeks unusual models - the conventionally pretty need not apply".  As a result, Gaultier's approach kick-started the careers of many international models including North-African model, Farida Khelfa. As Gaultier states; "Perfection is relative and beauty subjective. I wanted to make imperfection admirable". Included here are the iconic bra and corsets worn by Madonna during her 'Blond Ambition World Tour' 1990, as well as costumes designed for Kylie Minogue, 2008 and Grace Jones, who epitomised Gaultier's androgynous sentiment. Original watercolours by British artist Annie Kevans are displayed here, and include Gaultier's muses such as Amy Winehouse, David Bowie, Naomi Campbell, Beth Ditto, Dita Von Teese and Stella Tenant among others.

The "Boudoir" uses dark peep show rooms, where the models are displayed in provocative poses, wearing fetishistic-inspired clothing, such as corsets, cone-shaped bras, leather pieces and intimate-wear as outerwear. Prominent, is Gaultier's 2010 Baby bump corset and a men's corset from the 1997 "House of Pleasures" collection. "For me, the corset evoked something extraordinary, fascinating and mysterious", explains Gaultier, "When I started designing, young women had begun to reassert their femininity. They were reinventing the idea of the female sex object, who became strong and free enough to play with the rules. It was Madonna who came to perfectly embody this type of woman", he concludes. Gaultier's earliest muse is also displayed here, it is his childhood teddy bear called Nana, who has small newsprint cones attached to his chest. It is this conical bra-design that Gaultier has become renowned for in his fashion-career.

The "Metropolis" room is dedicated to Gaultier's fashion-collaboration in dance, photography and film. On display is the 'Etoiles and Toiles' gown from Gaultier's "Movie Stars" collection in 2009-10, and his "Male Faces" motif riding coat from 1992. A Mario Testino print titled 'Tanel, Haute Couture Salon Atmosphere' 1997, hangs on the wall, alongside a photograph from Nicolas Ruel's exhibition "From Architecture to Fashion in 8 Seconds", 2013. Ruel's black and white photograph, depicts a man wearing a dress, set against a grainy-city backdrop. This reflects Gaultier's commitment to the interplay of gender-roles. "What is masculine and what is feminine anyway?" Gaultier asks, "Why should men not show that they can be fragile or seductive? I am only happy when there is no discrimination" he declares in 'Out" Magazine, 2012. Peter Lindenbergh's print "Gaultier Montmartre", is also displayed, featuring supermodel Helena Cristensen and Marie-Sophie Wilson, as well as an Andy Warhol photograph titled "Area Club", 1984. Other photographs by Richard Avedon, Herb Ritts and Steven Miesel are included here. Film clips and video projections are on constant-rotation, showing scenes from the films Gaultier has designed for, such as, "The Fifth Element", "The City of Lost Children" and "The Thief, the Cook, his Wife and her Lover".



The Euro trash room broadcasts archive-footage from the Euro trash TV show, which can be enjoyed whilst seated on the quirky 'Ben Hur' chairs designed by Roche Bobois. There is also the ‘Spitting Image’ puppet of Jean Paul Gaultier on display for the first time in a UK gallery, and other memorabillia from the TV show.

In the Skin Deep room, static mannequins are dressed in fetishistic-inspired clothing and feature ensembles created for Madonna's 2006 "Confessions" tour. Some mannequins are dressed in nude and flesh-coloured, skin-tight clothing, with an artistic recreation of female body parts, and some expose the inner anatomy of the human body. The skin and body are the sources for Gaultier's artistic-expression here, and he also introduces plus-sized models and tattooed bodies as an alternative beauty-convention. As the accompanying wall art declares, "Be Yourself, no matter what Nature has dealt you".

The "Urban Jungle" room has a distinct fashion-trend blend of European and Tribal clothing. Here, Gaultier's designs feature couture-clothing in an earthy colour-palette, making use of tribal influences such as turbans and crocodile prints. Included are ensembles from Gaultier's "The Return of Prints' collection and the "Barbes" Collection, both in 1984. Gaultier explores and fuses together the many tribes of the urban jungle to include, the Bedouins of Barbes, chic Rabbis, Bollywood Maharajhs, Russian icons, African Marabouts and Geishas at the Louvre. Gaultier re-designs these influences to create an intercultural dialogue, and his ensembles include Chinese brocade pants, Eastern European peasant-blouses, Masai necklaces and boubous made from tunics and mini-skirts.

Included, is a Mongolian shearling coat worn by Bjork, which references her Icelandic-heritage and cements her status as a muse for Gaultier. There is also his 'La Mariee' wedding gown from "The Hussars" collection, 2003-4. Photographer Steven Miesel, collaborated with Gaultier in 1993, and his photographic print titled "Devoutly Irreverent" is also displayed here. It features of-the-moment, nineties 'supermodels', Nadja Auermann, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Shalom Harlow and Naomi Campbell. This photograph captures Gaultier's design ethic, to celebrate and include diverse beauty regardless of age, gender, size, sexuality or ethnicity.

Gaultier remains true to his early punk-aesthetic by celebrating and promoting diversity and difference, and he continues to shock. His recent collection for Paris Fashion Week (March 2014), featured ageing punks with grey mohawks dominating the runway, wearing tartan kilts and biker jackets, reminiscent of his earlier 'Punk Cancan' designs. The fashion odyssey of Jean Paul Gaultier appears to have come full circle, but the 'enfant terrible' shows no signs of conforming to fashion-industry standards or expectations. This is why his designs continue to be relevant today.

Further Information:
Barbican Art Gallery - http://www.barbican.org.uk/
There is also a downloadable app from the exhibition that includes an introductory video by Gaultier. http://www.barbican.org.uk/apps