Zaragoza (EFE).- The French designer Jean Paul Gaultier already dresses the CaixaForum Zaragoza with his spectacular exhibition, in which he unites cinema and fashion through a transgressive look, with his own designs and those of references such as Coco Chanel, Balenciaga, Pierre Cardin, André Courrèges or Sybilla.
After seeing the light in Paris and visiting Madrid, Barcelona and Seville, the exhibition organized by the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation and the ‘Cinémathèque française’ has been presented in the Aragonese capital by the designer himself, via videoconference, and by the director from the Foundation’s Exhibition and Collection Area, Isabel Salgado; the director of the center in Zaragoza, Ricardo Alfós, and the exhibition curator, Florence Tissot, on behalf of the cinematheque.
Gaultier, who in addition to haute couture for the catwalk has worked as a costume designer on numerous films, began in the world of fashion precisely inspired by a film he saw at the age of 13, ‘Falbalas’ (1945), a melodrama by Jacques Becker set in the hustle and bustle of a post-war sewing house. “I said: this is what I want to do”, he pointed out in relation to this film that occupies a privileged place in the exhibition ‘Cinema and fashion. By Jean Paul Gaultier’, next to ‘Who are you, Polly Magoo? (1966), by William Klein.
From “Zorro” to “Superman”
In the exhibition, in Zaragoza until August 20, such unique pieces by other designers are exhibited, such as the accordion sheet metal dresses created for this film, the front and crown of ‘Satyricon’, the suit worn by Antonio Banderas in ‘El Zorro’ or the one Christopher Reeve wore in ‘Superman IV’.
The haute couture creations of the brilliant French designer are also very present along the route. One of the most emblematic pieces is the corset with conical breasts that Madonna wore on her ‘Blond Ambition Tour’ in 1990.
The couturier has recalled the happiness he felt when Madonna, of whom he was a “big fan”, asked him to dress her. “What she projected as a type of woman was precisely what she wanted to show in my collection: a strong woman,” he added. As he has pointed out “there is a lot of information behind the way of dressing” and he was in charge of highlighting through the wardrobe the fragility of men and the strength of women.
Transgression as a ‘leitmotif’
In fact, in the journey through Gaultier’s gaze, “transgression is the leitmotif of all his work” stands out, a modernity that led him to collaborate with the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, with whom he has pointed out that he maintains a friendship.
Thus, in the corridors of the exhibition there is also the wardrobe of Victoria Abril in ‘Kika’, or of Gael García Bernal in ‘La mala educación’, with which the idea of transsexuality is expressed through the tube dress, with details of sequins and pearls.
As the Director of Exhibitions at CaixaForum has highlighted, under the gaze of this designer, “his defense of female empowerment, diversity and the claim of different types of beauty, beyond archetypes” is revealed. .
Salgado has remarked that Gaultier’s proposal has attracted the attention of a younger audience than usual at CaixaForum exhibitions, since half of the visitors in the three previous Spanish cities were between 16 and 35 years old.
The designer has been “delighted” that the new generations are interested in fashion, since “it is always young people who dress well”: “It is part of the fun, that you like to dress well, you have more freedom when you are young when it comes to dressing. When we are older we have more restrictions from a social point of view”.
The cinema: theatricalization of fashion
Considered the “enfant terrible” of fashion, Gaultier defends that cinema not only led him to choose his profession, but also to do “a kind of theatricalization of fashion”, in which the parade is like a theater.
And about his foray into the seventh art, he has assured that in the collections “you work for yourself”, as a screenwriter, while when you collaborate with filmmakers you face their own history. “It is different, we have to see how we are going to express what they want to express”, he has related about this “exchange of ideas”.