Impossible dresses, mythical scenes from the history of cinema and photographs that we all remember, all combined in the same exhibition directed by the French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier; a man who brought corsets back into fashion, transformed men’s suits into sensual women’s garments and baptized his first men’s collection with the title Man Object. The exhibition, commissioned by Florence Tissot and Matthieu Orléan, has traveled from the CaixaForum in Madrid to Barcelona, ??where it can be visited until October 23.
The Cinema i moda exhibition proposes a journey through time that intertwines these two disciplines through great film directors and designers. It focuses on the context of costume creation, emphasizing key aspects such as female empowerment and its reflection in fashion and in the filmography of the 20th century. “All the films that marked me as a child are the ones that show an empowered woman through wardrobe,” said Jean-Paul Gaultier during the presentation of the exhibition. The designer has added that this evolution took place in the fashion of the forties and fifties with figures such as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn or Rita Hayworth, whose dresses are exhibited in the exhibition.
Throughout the tour, the public will be able to see designs by Balenciaga, Paco Rabanne, Chanel, Givenchy or Jean-Paul Gaultier and nearly 70 iconic ensembles from the seventh art, worn by actresses such as Grace Jones in A View to a Kill, Catherine Deneuve in 8 Women , Grace Kelly in Rear Window , or the singer Madonna on her Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. “All these women represent an ideal of liberation and take power thanks to the evolution of social codes and fashion,” insisted the designer.
The exhibition, which in addition to Madrid has also been exhibited previously in Paris, includes costumes from some of Pedro Almodóvar’s films, who maintains an excellent relationship with the French designer and with whom he has collaborated on several occasions. Regarding the Spanish director, Gaultier assured: “Almodóvar is one of my favorite people in the film industry. I met him at a nightclub in Madrid and he immediately suggested that I dress Rossy de Palma”.
Asked about an anecdote that linked him to the director, Gaultier recalled with laughter what he considers to be the worst wardrobe test of his career: “I was in Paris trying on a dress on Victoria Abril for the movie Kika. When Almodóvar entered and saw the dress he began to practice the dialogue with Victoria. They moved so much and performed with such passion and enthusiasm that all the needles fell off the dress and I lost all the references.” The designer defines the director as “unique”, “passionate” and above all as someone “extremely interesting”.
In addition to the exhibition, the CaixaForum also organizes a dozen complementary activities related to the show: guided tours and conferences on fashion and cinema. Experts such as Gilles Lipovetsky, Isabel Margalejo, Carlos Primo or the designer Palomo Spain will participate in these activities. There will also be five screenings of films selected by the Spanish actress Rossy de Palma. These will be Kika; ready-to-wear; Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?; La dolce vita and The women.
