Dallas Museum of Art Exhibit: Jean Paul Gaultier

Agnes Deyn and Jean Paul Gaultier for Madame. Advertisement.

The Dallas Museum of Art is bringing fashion to the Big D in a major way in the form of their latest Special Exhibit: The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.  This is a very exciting exhibit for me for many reasons, but the most important one is because I know that he could have chosen any museum in the country (Los Angeles, Chicago, NEW YORK!) and for the Dallas Museum of Art to be chosen is quite a coup.

If I am honest, I still don't know very much about fashion.  I know that I love clothes and SHOES and handbags and SHOES, but I could not tell you who is who in fashion. That said, there are certain moments of my life that I recall being acutely aware of certain fashion statements.  Jennifer Lopez in THE Versace dress seen around the world;  Sharon Stone in a Gap shirt and Vera Wang skirt at the Oscars; Julia Roberts in vintage Valentino with the gorgeous man.

Costume design by Jean Paul Gaultier

Before all of these moments, the very first time I was cognizant of a fashion designer was Jean Paul Gaultier when Madonna wore the cone bras for her "Express Yourself" video and subsequent Blond Ambition world tour.  Was there ANYONE on the planet who didn't know who Jean Paul Gaultier was?  I lived in South Texas, where we didn't even have the Fox channel until I was in high school and MTV was a luxury most of our families couldn't afford, yet I knew who Jean Paul Gaultier was back then.   I remember buying one of my first perfumes, "Classique" because I loved the design of the bottle and feeling so grown up.

For all of these reasons, I am so excited about this exhibit opening next week at the Dallas Museum of Art.  The exhibit will run from November 13, 2011 until February 12, 2012.  Jean Paul Gaultier himself will be in Dallas November 8-9th for several gala events that I am, sadly, unable to attend.  However, I did snag tickets to the lecture next Thursday, Jean Paul Gaultier: Iconoclasms and Influence and I am so excited about heading out and getting a sneak preview of the collection!

The last image was found online at mad-eyes.net