French designer Jean Paul Gaultier ©AFP PHOTO/Pierre Verdy

The first ever retrospective dedicated to the designs of world-renowned French couturier Jean Paul Gaultier will be unveiled at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in June 2011, after which the exhibit will travel to the US. The Fashion World of Jean-Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk will display more than one hundred ensembles, including couture creations, as well as original sketches and photographs by the designer spanning his 35 years in the fashion industry. 

Gaultier, who showed his first ready-to-wear collection in 1976, has long held the reputation as the enfant terrible of the French fashion world. His unconventional designs, inspired by pop culture and street-wear, are a far cry from the more traditional and formal Paris couture houses.

Gaultier is perhaps best-known for designing Madonna's iconic cone-bra and bustier, which she wore for her 1990 Blond Ambition tour. He has also been known for inciting shock in the industry by enlisting unconventional models in his shows, like the plus-sized singer Beth Ditto (a UK size 28) of the band The Gossip, who walked his Spring/Summer 2011 runway show in Paris.

The exhibition will later travel to the Dallas Museum of Art (November 13 to February 12, 2012) and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco (March 24 to August 19, 2012).- Relaxnews

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

June 17 to October 2, 2011

Published 07.06.2011