A retrospective of the work of French fashion maverick Jean Paul Gaultier opens at the Barbican today, with a neon-inspired creative campaign designed by London practice Village Green.
With his penchant for all things naval and that infamous conical bustier made for Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition tour, few fashion designers have pressed upon the mainstream psyche quite like Jean Paul Gaultier. Unsurprising then that the Barbican has chosen to showcase the work of the iconic French designer for its headline Spring show, commissioning similarly playful collateral from London studio Village Green to accompany it.
Briefed to create posters that would appeal to a broad audience without alienating core fans, Village Green initially started experimenting with ideas spawned from Gaultier’s own images and clothing designs. Keen to try a minimal take on the fashion designer’s iconic trademarks, the studio then developed a design featuring four Breton stripes in 3D-rendered neon tubing, and expanded the idea to include Gaultier’s signature, an anchor, a heart and that aforementioned bustier. Not only does the use of neon nod to similar lighting included in the show, but it also works as an accurate signifier of some of the themes covered in the exhibition.
“Neon is quite a bright and glamorous thing but there’s also something street, almost a bit sleazy, about it,” says Village Green’s Seb Marling. “In a way it reflects where Gaultier is as a fashion designer – he’s taken a lot from street culture and transferred it into a couture space. Sexuality and wit is a big thing in his work, and we thought it was quite a fun side-glance at some of the motifs he’d used.” The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk
Barbican Art Gallery, London
9 April-25 August 2014
villagegreenstudio.com
www.barbican.org.uk