Jean Paul Gaultier cannot stop gushing about his love for all things British – the punks, the humour, the tartan, David Bowie – all vital inspirations to the French designer.
But it took the 61-year-old Frenchman a while to come round to British cuisine – and some of it remains firmly off the menu.
“Now I love the food – at the beginning no. Apart from the English breakfast,” Gaultier said Tuesday, gently poking fun at terrible English food and Anglo prudishness as he opened the London leg of a retrospective celebrating his three decades as one of fashion’s best-loved rebels.
Some of Gaultier’s designs, like his signature Breton stripes, are unmistakably Gallic. But he said London’s irreverence has always been his inspiration and his escape from the snobbishness of Parisian haute couture.
“It was my vitamin,” he said “I love the freedom of London. I saw it in the streets, the rock scene, the rock stars, the concerts. The energy, the character, all the people that are different, assuming their own beauty and character.”
With his collection of 165 hand-selected pieces having already toured New York and other cities in the U.S. and Europe – the designer was reflective about aging and the transience of fashion.
“My view about beauty is not concerned with stereotype. Getting old can also be very beautiful,” he said.
*‘The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk’ runs to Aug. 25 at London’s Barbican Centre.
AP
