The fashion world of Jean Paul Gaultier : From the sidewalk to the catwalk

   The Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition in Brooklyn museum was very inspiring to me, in a few good ways. I thought the whole things really fitted well to the theme of the show, which was ‘From the sidewalk to the catwalk’. The concepts and the styles in the show were really diverse, that I couldn’t expect what I would see around the next corner. I was mostly surprised at two things; first about how the designer used such different garments and materials, and secondly how he dealt with his idea of breaking the boundaries in gender, attitudes, and culture.

   It was really interesting to see the unusual shapes and fabrics that Gaultier used for his designs. There were his famous cone bras, in different textures and shapes. Some of them were not even made out of fabric, they were shaped out of metals. I was surprised at those designs. Also other than that, he used fur, laces, beads, and lots of other materials for his design. The headpieces and accessories were even more astonishing. The size of them differed from tiny to very big, and I felt like those were not just adding point to the look, they just also looked like parts of the main designs.

   One other surprise was that in the show, there were a lot of designs that not everyone could often think of. Gaultier was exaggerating the thoughts in his mind. As I saw in the video ‘Masters of style’, he enjoyed making unusual designs. He would break the boundaries of general styles, especially in gender and identity. In his designs, some of them were so experimental in gender. There were laces and meshes in menswear, and some of them had mixture of styles from different gender in one garment. To me, some of them caused resistance, because maybe I am too familiar with typical styles of men and women. However, I think it is very daring for him to try breaking the rules and create his own style. It was a great opportunity for me to learn about what he thinks towards fashion. The whole exhibition was a new thing for me, I had a good time knowing the artist and his collections.