Around the World with Jean Paul Gaultier
What do chain mail, a Bordeaux shade of red, ombre chinoises shadow silhouettes, Art Deco typography, haute Hendrix patchwork, psychedelically deformed French sailor stripes, and Maria’s robotic transformation in Fritz Lang’s 1927 Weimar sci-fi masterpiece, Metropolis, have in common? They all turned up in Jean Paul Gaultier‘s Fall/Winter 2013 collection, presented at Paris’ oldest dance hall, Salle Wagram. And that wasn’t all; Gaultier’s show also incorporated furry, tin-can minaudière bags on a chain—a revival of the classic Gaultier perfume containers—brass metric ruler bracelets, zipper pumps, and steamer trunk bottines. Such details require a closer look, so yesterday we headed over to Gaultier’s headquarters, located in a converted Belle Epoque palais, to take some pictures.
This autumn, the Jean Paul Gaultier retrospective, which was first exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in June 2011, will move to the Brooklyn Museum. Thus far, the exhibition has attracted over 500,000 visitors.
