Fashion bad-boy, Jean Paul Gaultier’s provocative multi-media exhibition, “From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk” will be on show March 24- August 19 in San Francisco and any fashionista within a plane ride away should buy a ticket now.
I was fortunate enough to have been invited to the press opening, where Gaultier regaled us with stories about his childhood (his teddy bear, Nana, was his original fit-model for his “cone bra”, later worn by Madonna on her 1990 “Blond Ambition” tour) how this show came to be, his love of San Francisco, where he gets his design ideas (after opening a can of cat food one day, he was inspired to create a line of tin can jewelry) to his thoughts on beauty.
“There is not only one type of beauty. As a child,” Gaultier explains, “my attention was always drawn to those women who didn’t look like everyone else.”
He went on to say that he was more interested in character, personality, and a sense of uniqueness, perhaps because as a child he was rejected for being different.
The dynamic, multi-media exhibition (complete with animated mannequins who playfully speak, sing and even wink at you ) includes 140 haute couture and prêt-à-porter designs created between the mid-1970s and 2010, along with numerous sketches, archival documents, fashion photographs, and video clips that spotlight Gaultier’s collaborations with filmmakers, choreographers, and musicians.
From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk
When:
Mar 24 – Aug 19
Tuesdays–SundaysWhere:
de Young Museum50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr
From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk