Photo by Jerry Pigeon (Studio JPG)
The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk
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Dubbed fashion’s enfant terrible, Jean Paul Gaultier launched his first prêt-à-porter collection in 1976 and founded his own couture house in 1997. Emerging as a designer in the 1970s, he developed his own dress codes that reflected the changing world around him. The openly gay Gaultier uses his designs to tackle gender and transgender issues through androgynous, gender-bending styles, meanwhile delving even further into some of the darker areas of the sexual revolution. Always provocative, he addresses issues of multiculturalism by bringing ethnic diversity to the Paris runway. Despite the gritty and sometimes controversial context of his collections, the clothes remain beautiful, superbly crafted with the finest dressmaking and detailing skills.
This dynamic, multimedia exhibition will include 140 haute couture and prêt-à-porter designs created between the mid-1970s and 2010, along with numerous sketches, archival documents, fashion photographs, and video clips that spotlight Gaultier’s collaborations with filmmakers, choreographers, and musicians, most notably Madonna. For this presentation, Gaultier partnered with the Montreal-based theater company Ubu Compagnie de Création in the design of 30 animated mannequins who talk and sing in playful and poetic vignettes.
This exhibition contains adult themes.
Sponsors
The Exhibition The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk is organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Maison Jean Paul Gaultier. JoliCoeur International is the official supplier of mannequins for the exhibition.
Lead Sponsor
Sponsors
Suzy Kellems Dominik
Yurie and Carl Pascarella
Christine Suppes
Supporting Sponsors
Academy of Art University, Dr. Elisa Stephens, President
Beauté Prestige International
Paula and Bandel Carano
Lisa and Douglas Goldman
Emma and Fred Goltz
Marissa Mayer and Zachary Bogue
Mary Beth and David Shimmon
Lonna Wais
Diane B. Wilsey
Couture Circle
Ramune Ambrozaitis
Rosemary Baker
Sloan and Roger Barnett
Anne Waterman Bassin and Darin Bassin
Richard Beleson and Skye Drynan
Mr. Riccardo Benavides
Joy Venturini Bianchi
Carol and Shelby Bonnie
Barbara Brown
Victoire and Owsley Brown
Lorna Meyer Calas
Dr. Carolyn Chang
Juliet de Baubigny
Susan Dunlevy
Milbourne Finley and Thomas Mowery
Richard Fullerton and Elizabeth Pang Fullerton
Vanessa Getty
Angelique Griepp
Lucy and William Hamilton
Katherine Harbin
Laure Fullerton Headrick and Chris C. Headrick
Beth Izmirian
Roxanne and Michael Klein
Mr. and Mrs. Garland M. Lasater III
Carson and Suzanne Levit
Amanda Michael and Michael Harrington
Ann Ferrell and Steve Millham
Dennis M. Myatt III
Deepa Pakianathan
Carol Parker
Stephanie Petit
O. J. and Gary Shansby
T. Peter Thomas and Jacqueline Stewart
Pasha and Laney Thornton
Becca Cason Thrash
Dorothy Torresi
Trevor and Alexis Traina
Gwynned Vitello
Elizabeth W. Vobach
Summer Tompkins Walker
Mrs. Julienne Weston and Mr. T. Kevin Coker
Lisa and James Zanze
