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Friday 6 July 2012

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk

Earlier this week the girls and I took a walk through the world of bizarre fashions courtesy of Monsieur Jean Paul Gaultier and the de Young Museum.

"The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From Sidewalk to the Catwalk" is an exhibition of some of Gaultier's finest creations currently on display at the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park (through to August 19th 2012).

The perfect suit for San Francisco!

This was a fashion exhibition unlike any other I have seen before. Should I have expected anything less  from fashion's "infant terrible"? 

As soon as we entered the exhibition we were in for a surprise - and it didn't come from the outfits on display. On first glance the mannequins appeared to be real people. But then wait, their bodies are plastic. No, they must be real, their faces are moving. What's going on here?


The famous Gaultier nautical stripes

Many of the mannequins in the exhibition have faces projected onto them. This is done in such a way that when the projected face moves it really seems like the mannequin's head is moving. The mannequins blink, smile, mouth words, sing, raise their eyebrows and even yawn. This was the first time I've ever had to retake a photo of a mannequin as I caught them with their eyes closed!

Angelic

Some of the mannequins speak or sing. In the first part of the exhibit there is a mannequin with Jean Paul Gaultier's face projected onto it. Gaultier welcomes you to the exhibition and tells you a little about himself. Further down the track we encountered mermaid outfits worn by mannequins that sang a siren's song. Their haunting voices coming from a small speaker placed just so above their heads.

Mermaid
Now one might think that with these amazing special effects it might detract from the outfits on display, but no. Even with the "moving" mannequins to contend with the outfits really speak for themselves. 

As such, I'll write no more and leave you with the photos to peruse. Just like the outfits, the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy!

Hello Sailor!

"Immaculata" gown for Kylie Minogue

Mermaid

The trademark Gaultier pointy bustier - the first of many in the exhibition 

Stunning, yet completely impractical, umbrella

Madonna's pointy-boob corsets!

This ribbon dress was beautiful

Gaultier maternity wear?

The Skin Deep Gallery

Chantilly Lace Body Stocking

Nice pants!

Flesh and blood

More flesh and blood

A little Lady Ga Ga, perhaps?

Outfits worn by Madonna and a dancer

Skin Deep gallery

Naked dress

Another singing mannequin

Now that's a lot of feathers

Love the styling of these crocodile outfits.

Perfect for a Cowboys & Indians themed wedding

Cave girl

Tribal wedding gown

Tribal wedding gown and cave girl

Beaded galleon hat

Perfect for riding a yak in style

Now that's a hat!

Glamour camo or Glamourfage?

More Glamourflage

Punk codpiece

Punk chic

Dressed from head to toe

Taking recycling cans to a new level

Trash!

Scourer jewellery and ashtray handbag 

The Punk Cancan Room

Revolving catwalk

This Barbarella bodysuit was my favourite

Neon, mesh and rope

Apparently the green outfit is Ava's favourite

Scuba chic

If you're interested in taking a look behind the scenes, here's a link to a blog I came across detailing the set up for the exhibition when it was on display in Dallas prior to coming to San Francisco. It's pretty interesting stuff.

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