Blurring the Edges:
Postmodern Thought and Idea as Expressed Through the Work of Jean-Paul Gaultier
The scene is set and the camera rolls. In the center of a predominately male bar, a uniform-clad sailor saunters his way across the room, garnering lascivious and sexually charged gazes from the other male drinkers and sailors before disappearing behind a beaded curtain with a fellow seaman. Once inside, the stunning sailor makes his move and locks lips with the other male, and after pulling away, removes his uniform and hat to expose a corset, revealing that “he” is really a “she”, and that your views of gender roles and forms have been challenged before your eyes. The scene that you have just witnessed is a commercial, and the mastermind behind the production is Jean-Paul Gaultier.
In the realm of fashion, many names stand out displaying the characteristics of the postmodernist movement, and do so in each their own way. Rei Kawakubo excels at delivering a sense of intertextuality and confusion in her use of style bricolage. Through both pop culture as well as perceptive expectations, she challenges the realms of preconceived rules of proportion, form, and “beauty”, while others such as Tom Ford harness the powerful imagery of Guy Bourdin to express the naked and arched body of Sophie Dahl as one of power rather than objectification. The aforementioned express these postmodernist ideas well through their own execution, yet none come close to the extent expressed by that of Gaultier, and the way that he has influenced fashion and the way that we think about what we see. In this paper I will showcase the immense similarities between the postmodernist school of thought and the “marin terrible”, in the areas of third-wave feminist expression, his use of bricolage and cultural influences, and most importantly his amazing and creative use of gender identities and the way that we react to them through visual and emotional means, an area that he has systematically examined and toyed with for years.
When most people think of Jean-Paul Gaultier, one image seems to stand out above all else, that image being his iconic cone-shaped corset worn by Madonna in her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour. Though this piece of clothing is aesthetically and structurally attractive, it is the attatchment and expression of the postmodernist ideal of third-wave feminism and the implicit sexual empowerment that allow it to stand out within the context of postmodernist thought and idea. Through the use of the female form as a vehicle of empowerment , a woman who was previously objectified and overpowered by the constrains of pre-set rules and narratives of what a woman’s role in society was, could now express her sexuality and individuality while telling the world that she was in control, yet was exhibiting her body by her own will rather than being involuntarily exploited. This image of a corset as less of a fashion tool used for building a clothing foundation on, and more of a statement can clearly be seen in the enhanced cones which blatantly call attention to a part of the body that is overtly feminine, yet in many areas had been downplayed or covered up. By offering the corset as a sexually charged form showcasing the breasts as a “female weapons” , yet also presenting it in a sublimely feminine color of pink and incorporating the traditional form and boning, the viewer is reminded that the wearer is first and foremost a woman, yet also is in control of her body as well as how she is perceived and categorized as. This presentation also ultimately challenges the rules of the classical 19th century view of how much skin a woman can show before being labeled a loose or promiscuous woman vs. that of a modern and independent female, and deconstructs the socially dictated rules of structural garments, their need to be hidden on the inside rather then shown on the outside, and the preconceived notion of 19th century beauty for which they were originally invented.
The form of sexually empowering clothing for women by Gaultier exists in many ways throughout his career, another of which being that of his preoccupation with masculine inspired details on female clothing that lends a sense of authority and power to the ensemble. In a look from the F/W09 womenswear collection, tapered trousers are accented by suspender-inspired straps in a stereotypically masculine and powerful worsted pinstripe fabric, which are then paired with a matching jacket exhibiting a broad-shouldered fit. This fit and combination of design elements and semiotics inferred lends a “power-suit” characteristic to the look, and challenges our internal dialogue of what a woman should be expected to wear, and what is perceived as distinctly masculine or distinctly feminine in terms of detail, proportion, and design. This internal toying of ones reactions also seems to empower the woman through the use of visual cues and assumptions, allowing her to express herself and remain both a woman and a power object. Another great example of this empowerment through traditionally masculine objects can be found in the leather freeform bra worn by Madonna during the production of her “SEX” book. In this example a framework of suspenders are utilized on a bondage-type appliance which allows the bare breasts to be fully exposed for all to see. Through this garment, the third-wave feminist ideals of the exposed yet forbidden are showcased within the framework of a masculine form (suspenders), allowing a great deal of messages to be inferred by a single piece of clothing and imagery, imagery that helps to exhibit the intended reaction and symbolism both visually as well as psychologically.
While extreme and overt images of feminity and power are some of the historical hallmarks of the Gaultier name, ideas like that of bricolage are just as prevalent, allowing Gaultier to exhibit some of the most diverse and sometimes controversial collections of our times. Since Gaultier began, he has always been influenced by many themes and styles, yet manages to mix them together into a synergistic blend of bricolage that seems to typify the rejection of meta-narratives of what the proper attire is for the lady of yesterday as well as today. Where once there existed a strict code of what a woman was expected to wear for the occasions of daily life, usually including preconceived rules for even the matching of items to one another, there now exists in Gaultier’s design aesthetic a desire for the melding of styles and trends into a separate entity of dress, devoid of the cultural and traditional dictations of society that once existed.
Throughout his carreer, Gaultier has not been one to take a demure approach or to shy away from controversial imagery or themes. This courageous and pioneering spirit can also be viewed in the way that he seems to possess an innate knowledge of pairing styles and cultural aesthetics that seem to exist world from each other and mixing them to create a very post-modernist style of bricolage and harmony. In his A/W10 collection, Gaultier takes traditional silhouettes and fabrics associated with the tribes and people of the Mongolian steppe, and pairs them with a very western and tailored construction tequnique and style. The resulting product is then mixed with items such as tailored furs, opaque and vividly colored tights, and western evening dress, creating an entirely new visual aesthetic through the melding of currently existing and separate style categories.
In the F/W07 haute couture collection of Gaultier’s work, the ideals of bricolage reach a new height, as he presents the female form encased in a cocoon of neoclassical, religious, and Renaissance imagery and accessories. Overtly feminine fabrics and laces are expertly and meticulously tailored into garments reminiscent of Catholic Saints, also including printed images of neoclassical art and design. This melding of imagery lends to them a Juilet-esque aesthetic of virginal purity and youthful innocence, further heightened by the addition of lace mantillas, plexiformed halo headpieces, and floral crowns, which is then turned on it’s head by the addition of body conscious fit, and a general silhouette that seems to bounce from sexy to saintly through the accompanying imagery. The end result of the garments represents a very postmodern ideal of bricolage, coupled with the playful toying of Christian and traditional European ideals. This presentation forces the viewer to test the waters of their own boundaries of sanctity, religion, and Christian iconography, while also calling into question the impact that clothing can have on the emotions and psyche of a target audience and asking, “is it acceptable to present a woman as a religious saint, and if so, why is that wrong?”
My favorite, and possibly one of the best examples of postmodern ideas at work within Gaultier’s world can be seen in his explicit manipulation and focus on gender, gender roles, social expectations, and what we deem to be acceptable in society in relation to masculine and feminine narratives. Gaultier has challenged the boundaries of gender, with a direct rejection and declassification of separate feminine and masculine style, attacking historically masculine and feminine archetypes and icons with a concept less concentrated on what is right and wrong, and instead celebrating individuality and expression of a universal form.
During the F/W10 menswear collection, a male model was sent down the runway in a satin undershirt, a tailored skirt, and boxing gloves. This use of traditionally feminine clothing items and fabrics, set against the uber-masculine sport of boxing allowed Gaultier to examine the way we perceive traditional expectations of what a man should wear in order to “be a man”, As well as how we connect the ideas of what a boxer should look like through our own hardwired semiotics. This adverse connection between the feminine to enhance the masculine is also evident in the S/S10 collection of menswear, in which slightly androgynous men were sent down the runway in sequined and jean bustiers, a move that makes one question the ideas of masculinity, femininity and empowerment, bringing up the question “if a woman can use a bustier to empower herself sexually, why can a man not use one as well?”
A secondary example of Gaultiers’ playful use of gender and psychological factors can be seen in both the Man-Object collection of 1982, and his most recent collection that ultimately challenged our beliefs in what masculine archetypes represent when coupled with gender differentiations. The Man-Object collection of ’82 featured female models smoking pipes and male models in transparent lace skirts, both of which took a preconceived gender action or image and placed it within the context of the opposite gender context to create confusion and also a sense of disorientation of the usual norms of society. The most recent collection of F/W11 was however in my opinion, his most brilliant in terms of execution and imagery. The show starts with the hyper-masculine theme and icon of James Bond, sending men in razor-sharp tailoring down the runway as a homage to the iconic and virile stereotype of the character. As the show continues, the lines of the tailoring soften as well as the fit and exposure, with the trousers beginning to slim and ultimately being replaced by neoprene thigh-hugging pants, justaxposing the feminine fit of the pant to the overtly masculine and pronounced genitalia clearly outlined through the neoprene. The gender stereotypes further heighten as a sunglass-clad male covered in a full beard walks the runway in a suit jacket, shorts, and fishnets accentuated by a Walther PPK strapped to his thigh, and sublimely culminate as a gorgeous blonde “Bond Girl” stalks the runway in stiletto’s, a lush fur coat, and a golden gun in hand to close the show with a bang. The show-closing “Bond Girl”, is in fact 19 year old Serbian male model Andrej Pejic, an androgynous model placed in a wedding dress in a previous collection, and used by Gaultier in this collection to further drive home his very postmodernist perception of what we think about gender, what we perceive as traditionally male and female, and to attack our existing narratives of why men have to always be “masculine” or women “feminine.”
In the realm of postmodern thought, many things are in flux, yet some remain constant such as those covered above. Gaultier has shown the common public that social dictations and norms are not only able to be broken and toyed with, but can be done in such a way that allows deeper introspection and examination of those boundaries and lines. Where once there stood a defined standard for proper continuity and decorum, there now exists a mixture of styles that create a new aesthetic formed by a need for visual harmony and cohesion despite the effect of conflicting style messages and cues. In addition, where there once stood very well defined gender roles of what a man should do to be perceived as a man, and what a woman should do to be a woman, there is now a blurring of gender lines and a questioning of what it means to be each, and why those dictations must or should be followed, leading the individual not only through a path of seeking out the answers to these questions but also to the formulation of new assumptions based on universal acceptance of ideas rather than areas of conformity. This new uniform conglomerate of areas and ideas has been widely accepted and utilized by such innovative designers as Jeremy Scott, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Junya Watanabe, Marc Jacobs, Viktor & Rolf, and Riccardo Tisci, changing the landscape and emotional direction of fashion, and asking the question of “if boundaries exist, why should they be followed?”
--Stephen Fisher 2011
