The Chosen Ones
Last night the audience at the roundhouse were privileged to experience an intimate glimpse inside the glorious mind of Jean Paul Gaultier – performed by a diverse array of dancers, actors, singers, circus performers in a mix of live cabaret, theatre and film that took us on an intimate Odyssey from JPG’s birth through his life as an Artist of Fashion, from 1961 to the present moment.
Though a genius couture show of his latest menswear collection was incorporated into the end of the 2 hour event it was unlike any runway show I’ve ever experienced. This was Gaultier The Artist of Fashion unzipped.
His life, his inspirations and his creations were exposed via a streaming biographical can-can through the decades. It started with JPG the boy and his teddy for whom he created his iconic conical bra that would later make Madonna famous, his mother’s tolerance wisdom and chic, his lavish use of the sexual architectural of corsetry, the joie de vivre, vigour and naughtiness of The Folies Bergère – the inspirations mingled with the romance, the tears, the triumphs, the loss, the tragedy of Gaultier’s life as all were transmuted into Beauty through the Art of Fashion – with that JPG flair for adding a twist of wit and sex.
After the show climaxed Pandamonia and I sat still trilling with how the treasure trove of Gaultier’s experiences and Fashion Art Works have become the heartbeat of generations.