Jean Paul Gaultier is busy working on a stage production based on his life. The French couture designer is channelling his personal experiences into Fashion Freak Show, which is set to open next October at Paris cabaret hall Folies Bergere. It was watching footage from within this venue as a child which inspired Gaultier to pursue his fashion journey - a moment that will serve as the show's opening scene. Other important aspects from his life to feature in the production include clasping eyes on a corset for the first time and his first-ever fashion show.
Those who have worn and supported his designs will also be given a nod, with personalities such as Madonna, Luc Besson and Kylie Minogue all to be mentioned, while countless iconic pieces will be worn throughout. "It will be a revue based on a life in fashion; the journalists, the backstage action with the models,” Gaultier told WWD. “It's all about what we know, only with more feathers and glamour."
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Jean Paul Gaultier's play - Fashion Freak Show - will open iin Paris next year
Quizzed on who will be playing him, he explained, "You don't actually get to see much of me or my boyfriend Francis Menuge, you'll see us mainly from the back. It's about my life, but the true stars of the show are fashion and the revue." Discussing the decision behind the show's name, and the negative stigma surrounding the word "freak", the 65-year-old insisted it's "beautiful" to be different and stand out, an outlook he always tries to reflect in his work.
"When you're a kid, at least that's how it was in my day, you're not conditioned, you don't see perversity, there's a state of innocence where everything is beautiful, you see differently," he added, acknowledging he's lucky to be fulfilling his dream while still retaining a "childlike state of mind" when it comes to creativity.
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