Elegancy101 Special - Event: The Fashion World Of Jean Paul Gaultier

The Fashion World Of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk is the first international exhibition devoted to the celebrated French couturier. Initiated and produced by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Maison Jean Paul Gaultier in Paris and the Kunsthal Rotterdam in The Netherlands, the exhibition brings to life the world of Gaultier. Take a look at astonishing pictures of the exhibition after the jump:

The exhibition, which the couturier considers to be a creation in its own right, feautures approximately 140 ensembles with their accessories, mainly from the designer's couture collections, but also from his pret-a-porter lines. Created between 1970 and 2011, these pieces have, for the most part, never before been exhibited.

Dubbed fashion's enfant terrible by the press from the time of his first runway shows in the 1970s. Jean Paul Gaultier is indisputably one of the most important fashion designers of recent decades. Keenly interested in all the world's cultures and countercultures. Gaultier has picked up on the current trends and proclaimed the right to be different. Beyond the technical virtuosity, an unbridled imagination and ground-breaking artistic collaborations, he offers an open-minded vision of society, a crazy, sensitive, funny, sassy world in which everyone can assert his or her own identity, a world without discrimination, a unique "fusion couture". Through his fashion, he demonstrates that everything is possible.

Six different thematic sections trace the influence - from the streets of Paris to the world of science fiction - that have marked the couturier's creative development. The Odyssey of Jean Paul Gaultier, The Boudoir, Skin Deep, Punk Cancan, Urban Jungle and Metropolis. The many artistic collaborations that have characterized Gaultier's world was examined: in film and contemporary dance, not to mention the world of popular music, in France and on the international scene, especially Madonna, whose friendship with Gaultier has led her to graciously lend, among other things, two iconic corsets from her Blond Ambition World Tour.

Fashion photography is also a major focus of attention, thanks to loans of, in many cases, never-before-seen prints from contemporary photographers and renowned artists, including Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Pierre et Gilles, Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin, and Robert Doisneau. A contemporary installation rather than a fashion retrospective, The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier celebrates the daring inventiveness of his cutting-edge style.

What do you think? Do you like the flicks + Jean Paul Gaultier's creations?