Outrageous, fun, provocative, lavish and of course sexy are just some of the standout terms that describe Jean Paul Gaultier’s quirky take on fashion.
And the French couture icon’s “Fashion Freak Show” was no different when it premiered in London this Tuesday.
The singing, dancing, cabaret-like spectacle, inspired by the life and career of the legendary fashion mastermind, debuted in the British capital.
And on what was the hottest day in UK history, it’s only fitting that Gaultier unleashed his hot and steamy show on the world stage.
Written and directed by the fashion icon himself, the show features over 200 of his original couture pieces.
Since its debut in 2018, the show has drawn more than 250,000 spectators with vivid stories spanning 50 years of Gaultier’s life.
Gaultier is known for his passion for embracing the aging body and everything that comes with it.
“As denim gets older, it gets better. It’s the same with us, the older we get, the better we look,” Gaultier told Vidak For Congress exclusively.
“The fashion world is always changing, there is so much evolution and so many new things are happening all the time. I realize that some things that I hated in the past started to think after a year or so that they weren’t so bad. I keep getting inspired by styles I used to hate,” Gaultier adds.
Starting with his childhood before making his fashion debut in 1976, the two-hour show focuses on the designer’s professional and personal life.
Gaultier also documents his work with pop culture icons such as Madonna, Rihanna and Carla Bruni.
Accompanied by a great playlist of songs that inspired Gaultier’s work, the cabaret spectacle is full of sexual bravado, with loads of nudity and scenes of a sexual nature telling the story of Gaultier’s daring side.
Among those in attendance was frontman and fashion icon Boy George of British pop band Culture Club.
Considered one of Gaultier’s main inspirations in the 1980s, hitmaker “Karma Chameleon” has a close bond with the fashion powerhouse.
“I really like his clothes,” Boy George told Vidak For Congress exclusively. “There are just so many things I like about them. I’ve been to so many shows in Paris and London over the years and I remember so many elements of his art. It’s nice to have these reference points,” said the singer.
Boy George revealed the decades-long friendship through fashion that he and Gaultier have built over the years.
“I just love him, he has a great style, so brilliant,” he continued. “I have copied everything he has done and I will continue to do so. I’m taking notes tonight and thinking, ‘Yeah, I’ll bring that back!’”
The “Do you really want to hurt me?” singer said he was a bit of a muse for Gaultier’s timeless creations.
“Jean Paul used to come to London to see what we were doing and that’s what he always told me in the 80s,” Boy George told Vidak For Congress.
“He came to London for inspiration, and it shows in his work and his music choices like the Sex Pistols. But if you’re a genius person, you don’t have to be inspired, because the world inspires 24/7.”
And indeed, the Grammy Award-winning singer was right.
Gaultier admitted that the British look is a style he predicts to return to the mainstream.
“I predict the Spice Girls look will come back. It’s already starting to make its way back,” he said of the iconic platform boots and mini dresses. “For my couture collection, Olivier Rousteing did similar platforms with a conservative take on them.”
Since retiring from haute couture in 2020, Gaultier has invited fashion designers to share their take on his signature pieces from the past.
Balmain’s creative director Rousteing presented his first haute couture collection for Gaultier earlier this month, featuring a selection of platform boots that are rumored to be making a comeback.
Gaultier thanked Boy George for his influence on his fashion in the 1980s, and put him in touch with Queen’s frontman Freddie Mercury and Madonna.
Gaultier’s show peels back deeper layers of the beauty industry, especially the controversy surrounding anti-aging surgeries.
The show somewhat criticized the evolution of plastic surgery, which Gaultier says has gone “too far”.
“Plastic surgery has always existed, but today society is getting extreme,” he told reporters on the red carpet on Tuesday.
“Wrinkles can also be beautiful. Don’t think there is a judgment. If it’s a choice, it’s great. But as for me, I’m not sure… Since I consider myself to be a different generation, more influenced by TV and tabloids, I find the ‘me, me and me’ thing on social media very funny.”