The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier; from the Sidewalk to the Catwalk

It was a huge coup for the not only the fashion community of Montreal, but for the city itself when in November of last year, l’enfant terrible de la mode, Jean Paul Gaultier announced he would be presenting a retrospective on his work, titled The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier; from the Sidewalk to the Catwalk at the Musée des Beaux Arts beginning in June of 2011 and running through October 2011.  Finally, the day has arrived and the exhibit is set  to open to the public this Friday, June 17. Monsieur Gaultier has been in town all week amid Grand Prix festivities, for a promotional tour of sorts – starting with a meet & greet with fans at Holt Renfrew Saturday, various press conferences and presentations of the exhibit to media and select invitees as of Monday of this week, and a second meet & greet with fans at the Baie’s downtown location to launch a new spin on his classic Le Male cologne; Le Male Terrible. 

We had the privilege of attending the vernissage for the exhibit on Tuesday, June 14 where Gaultier greeted and thanked his guests - among them; local celebrities Mitsou and Abeille Gelinas, Anne Marie Withenshaw, Rico the Zombie, celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch, designers Phillipe Dubuc and Eve Gravel, model Farida Khelfa and long-time JPG collaborator Tanel Bedrossiantz – and proclaimed his love for the city of Montreal. He then passed the podium to an emotional Museum director Nathalie Bondil who thanked Jean Paul for allowing museum staff to enter his home, search his archives and work closely with the designer in order to put the exhibit together. After some wine and mingling, it was off to see the expo – although the large amounts of people made it hard to properly examine and gawk and the 140 pieces from Gaultier’s 35 year career and various previously-unpublished prints from artists like Andy Warhol, Mario Testino and David LaChapelle (we’ll definitely have to go back!) – it was breathtaking.

The exhibit is organized in six thematic collections, including The Odyssey of Jean Paul Gaultier, The Boudoir, Skin Deep, Euro Star, Urban Jungle and Metropolis, and features talking, animated mannequins brought to life by video including one of Jean Paul Gaultier himself, long-time “Le Male” muse Francisco Randez and Melissa Auf De Mar.  Among the 140 pieces presented are the famed cone bras made famous by Madonna herself and corsets worn by Kylie Minogue and JPG’s childhood teddy bear, affectionately named Nana, on which the designer created his first cone bra made of safety pins and paper.

The exhibition runs from June 17 until October 2 at the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavillion at the Museum of Fine Arts, before it heads to Dallas and San Francisco - be sure to check it out!