The High Art of Fashion

If there’s one thing Jean Paul Gaultier hates, it’s convention. That’s why the famously dubbed 'l’enfant terrible' is a great clothing designer. For 35 years and 150 collections, Gaultier has delighted, shocked, and inspired the world with his imaginative and eccentric creations.

Now his creative designs will be judged from the cool white walls of art museums with an international exhibit that makes a Texas stop at Dallas Museum of Art beginning November 13. “The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk,” the first exhibition ever devoted to the celebrated French couturier, and the DMA is the first of two U.S. venues to host this critically-acclaimed international exhibition conceived, produced, and organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition also marks the first time that the DMA will present an exhibition dedicated to exploring the art of contemporary fashion.

More of a contemporary installation than a retrospective, this major exhibition — which the couturier considers to be his biggest show ever — features more than 130 ensembles for women and men spanning over 35 years from the designer’s couture and ready-to-wear collections, along with their accessories and numerous archival documents.

Gaultier is indisputably one of the most important fashion designers of recent decades. Very early on, his avant-garde fashions reflected an understanding of a multicultural society’s issues and preoccupations, shaking up — with invariable good humor — established societal and aesthetic codes.

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk
Nov 13, 2011–Feb 12, 2012
Dallas Museum of Art