JEAN PAUL GAULTIER / Retrospective

From June 17th to October 2nd 2011, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is hosting an exhibition about Jean Paul Gaultier titled The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier /From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk for his 35 years of career.  The exhibition is described by the New York Post as "a triumph" and Elle France writes that it's "a phenomenal retrospective on the great French couturier…this exhibition presents everything we love about his work in a definitive and brilliant fashion."
I decided to pay hommage to Gaultier too - with a post dedicated to him.  I looked at his last 20 collections for women -  from 2005 to 2012 - and picked the most original, extravagant and feminine pieces.  Gaultier is a true artist and one of the few that still have a couture collection.
Enjoy!
- Marie 

  

  

"From men in skirts to Madonna's infamous conical bras, Jean Paul Gaultier's innovations have always pushed the conventional boundaries of fashion. In 1970, Pierre Cardin hired the 18-year-old, who had no formal training, after he received some promising sketches in the mail from him. Six years later, Gaultier launched his womenswear collection in Paris. His work has been described as "Frencher than French," and indeed there is an extreme enthusiasm and provocation in his clothes that can occasionally verge on caricature, though it is always married to exceptional technique." Style.com

"In addition to womenswear, the house produces menswear, accessories, fragrances, and, since 1997, a couture collection, which may just be the designer's finest contribution to fashion. Heralded by the press as the "savior" of the dying trade, Gaultier wowed the industry with the imaginative and technical prowess of his fantastical designs. Dubbed the successor to Yves Saint Laurent, he not only took over the couturier's closing time slot during the shows but inherited Saint Laurent's best clients, including Catherine Deneuve. In 2000, the CFDA presented Gaultier with the International Award. Three years later, he assumed the post of creative director at Hermès, succeeding Martin Margiela." Style.com
The Hermès Spring 2011 collection was his last for the fashion house.

 

   

Photos via Style.com