Yes she's arrived The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier from the Sidewalk to the Catwalk newly opened at the Barbican. I got a nice VIP invite for Monday's gala presentation. Rumors of Madonna in attendance rustled through the singing ringing tree, was she there? No dears. JPG turned up with a HRH Queen lookie likey, crikey! Jean Paul has got a sense of humor ain't he! We got a nice few glasses of bubbly and some canapes as you do and popped into the JPG photo booth before we had a look round the show. Very jolly indeed...
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Now then seriously Jean Paul Gaultier has got a major body of work to choose from, his archive is vast... 40 years vast, his first solo show was in 1976. I was thinking to myself, if this is the final edit imagine what they had to leave out. There's some bits from a 1977 collection that actually look very contemporary, inspired by punk he managed to successfully capture something of the movement in chic way. There doesn't seem to be any chronological order rather collections are gathered together to create a mood, specialist numbers (Madonnas conical tits, Grace Jones' inspired pant suit, the Boy George moment, Beth Ditto's sparkly frock, that sort of thing) placed in the upper level booths and artworks hung around and about.
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I'm always fascinated to peer close up at the amount of detail that goes into the creation of this kind of work, and I liked the fact that next to the description of these clothes went the number of hours of intensive labour that has gone into their fruition. Mostly everyone was taken aback by the mannequins projected moving facial expressions. Yes they are quite spooky. And I was amused by the fashion conveyer belt, very Are You Being Served? As the mannequins trundled and cranked round they gave us a bit of a wobble.
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Later on in the proceedings JPG took to the stage to give us an animated ramble and we were given a star turn from Rufus Wainwright. Go and have a wonder round the JPG show it's quite a thing!
Omar and I in the JPG photo booth waiting for Madonna
Now then seriously Jean Paul Gaultier has got a major body of work to choose from, his archive is vast... 40 years vast, his first solo show was in 1976. I was thinking to myself, if this is the final edit imagine what they had to leave out. There's some bits from a 1977 collection that actually look very contemporary, inspired by punk he managed to successfully capture something of the movement in chic way. There doesn't seem to be any chronological order rather collections are gathered together to create a mood, specialist numbers (Madonnas conical tits, Grace Jones' inspired pant suit, the Boy George moment, Beth Ditto's sparkly frock, that sort of thing) placed in the upper level booths and artworks hung around and about.
Early punk inspired look
I'm always fascinated to peer close up at the amount of detail that goes into the creation of this kind of work, and I liked the fact that next to the description of these clothes went the number of hours of intensive labour that has gone into their fruition. Mostly everyone was taken aback by the mannequins projected moving facial expressions. Yes they are quite spooky. And I was amused by the fashion conveyer belt, very Are You Being Served? As the mannequins trundled and cranked round they gave us a bit of a wobble.
Life-like - animated mannequin
The JPG fashion conveyer belt
Later on in the proceedings JPG took to the stage to give us an animated ramble and we were given a star turn from Rufus Wainwright. Go and have a wonder round the JPG show it's quite a thing!