Exploring Fashion - Inspired by Jean Paul Gaultier

by Maya Young - Age 12

The Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit was full of the inspirational genius of his beautiful fashions and designs. It appeared to be on the verge of beauty to ugliness, what ever category it falls into it is still part of Haute Couture culture. The time and effort spent on these magnificent clothes is overwhelming.

One of his dresses, which I was surprised by, was what i thought was a beautifully draped leopard skin (including the head) on a satin based skirt of some sort. However when you creep up a little closer you finally realize the beading work that went into the making of this dress. It was a completely beaded leopard patterned couture gown. Once I looked at the information below, it amazed me to see that it took 1,006 hours of pure hand sewing the beads on. You will be surprised how long couture dresses take when there is beading involved.

One of my absolute favorites was a heavily beaded dress with a full length skirt and some kind of fringe at the bottom. it included a Native American styled, feathered headdress that came to the floor.  The detail is overpowering, as you slowly look over the beaded mask and jewelry that overflows the top of the dress.  Another dress that you don't want to miss is his well-known lace dress with a sort of crown at the top.  At first,  I didn't know what it was, it looked almost like a bunch of paper cut outs all glued together; but what I quickly realized is that it was an intricate lace design that scattered over her whole body. 

What amazes me about this french designer is how different each of his designs are. Each dress is one of a kind, something you have never seen before in fashion.  What you will notice is that he goes over the top, with his extravagant designs.  As I walked in the exhibit, I didn't know where to look! One thing that was startling to me was when you first walk in, one starts to believe that there are actual people standing still and wearing these master pieces, but in truth it was a projection of models faces talking, including Jean Paul Gaultier, himself. What some people thought to be weird and possibly frightful was a creative attempt to show the viewers a display of Gaultier talking about his work.  These projections gave you an idea of what the gowns would look like on a model.

This exhibit was almost a gateway into the designer's mind, and what a carnival it was.  If you were thinking of going or haven't gone to this exhibit, I strongly recommend going! :P