From June 15 to September 22, 2013, The Swedish Center for Architecture and Design, formerly Arkitekturmuseet will present THE FASHION WORLD OF JEAN PAUL GAULTIER: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, the first international exhibition devoted to the celebrated French couturier.
Gaultier launched his first prêt-à-porter collection in 1976 and founded his own couture house in 1997. Dubbed fashion's enfant terrible by the press from the time of his first runway shows in the 1970s, Jean Paul Gaultier is indisputably one of the most important fashion designers of recent decades. Very early, his avant-garde fashions reflected an understanding of a multicultural society's issues and preoccupations, shaking up – with invariable good humour – established societal and aesthetic codes.
More of a contemporary installation than a fashion retrospective, this major exhibition, which features 120 ensembles and numerous documents, is particularly innovative in the theatrical mise en scène and multimedia approach provided by UBU/Compagnie de création's animated mannequins. The exhibition's curator, Thierry-Maxime Loriot, has succeeded in designing a Gaultier-esque creation in the form of an exuberant theatrical exhibition. Most of these pieces are being exhibited for the first time in Sweden, with exceptional loans from Madonna and Pedro Almodovar to name a few. Fashion show recordings, television programmes, films, videos, sketches and photographs by leading photographers as Andy Warhol, David LaChapelle and Cindy Sherman complete the world of Gaultier.
Nathalie Bondil, Director and Chief Curator of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts started the project with the ambition of creating an exhibition about Jean Paul Gaultier because of his great humanity, his open minded vision of society where everyone can be proud and distinctive because of his/her own identity, as much as for his technical virtuosity.
“A classic always has its appointed place. Jean Paul Gaultier’s popular touch, unconstrained and exuberant creativity convey a very forceful message to society. An inspiring world in which everyone can assert their own identity, unimpeded by discrimination and prejudice. We are proud to be able to invite visitors to a fashion exhibition that is a natural part of the centre’s design mission”.
Lena Rahoult, Director of The Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design