To take full advantage of my holiday this summer, we decided to take a short trip to Melbourne to get away from the house for a bit.
We stayed at the gorgeous Crown Towers in Southbank. I'm all for a view and it was incredible; sitting on my bed I could see the beautiful city lights, it was even better at night.
One of the things I really wanted to do on my stay in Melbourne (aside from shopping, which I will share in my next post) was visit the National Gallery of Victoria which hosted the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition. Gaultier is a French Haute Couture and Pret-a-Porter fashion designer.
His first individual collection was released in 1976- he has long been known as the enfant terrible of French fashion. His creativity and mastery of tailoring made him a stand out in his field. In 1985 he introduced man-skirts and produced sculptured costumes for Madonna during the nineties, starting with the infamous cone bra. He regularly caused shock by using unconventional models, like older men and full-figured women, pierced and heavily tattooed which earned him both criticism and enormous popularity.
The exhibition was one of the most incredible displays I've ever seen and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Melbourne. When you first walk in, you are overcome by a number of figures dressed in Gaultier ensembles.
What is striking though, is that it is hard to tell whether the models are real or mannequins. On closer inspection you can see they are in fact mannequins, but they have used digital imaging to make them appear real- including moving eyes, lips and eyebrows. Pretty freaky actually! Then there is Gaultier himself welcoming everyone to his exhibition. You continue on to a number of creatively decorated rooms filled with past collections, including a rotating catwalk and outfits from floor to ceiling. Take a look at some of the photos I snapped.
