Featuring a dynamic soundtrack, vibrant performances and all the familiar motifs of French designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s celebrated career – from cone bras and kilts to corsets and the iconic blue and white striped marinière – Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fashion Freak Show is a coup for Brisbane Festival: an international exclusive that’s sure to attract the designer’s fans from near and far.
It’s a shame, then, that the slick, saucy and gaudy production feels considerably less than the sum of its parts – but oh, what parts they are!
Over 200 pieces of Gaultier’s haute couture designs appear in Fashion Freak Show, which tracks the Frenchman’s career from his first solo collection in 1976 onwards through the decades. It’s a feast for the eye (and the ear, thanks to a spectacular array of songs from the era, including many originals and others performed live) and, judging by the enthusiastic reaction of some audience members on the night this reviewer attended, is clearly resonating with Gaultier fans.
The loosely autobiographical production relies on an all-too-familiar structure – akin to a big budget version of a Spiegeltent show – to tell its tale, blending elements of circus, burlesque and cabaret in a manner that feels almost derivative. It’s beautifully dressed, but the bones of the show lack innovation and originality.
Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fashion Freak Show opens with a young Gaultier dressing his teddy bear in costumes that foreshadow the fashion highlights to come; later we gain glimpses into his personal life – most notably Gaultier’s significant relationship with Francis Menuge, his lover and business partner, a sequence that culminates with Menuge dying from an AIDS-related illness in 1990.
It’s here that fashion and storytelling are combined to potent effect, illustrating both the couple’s close bond and Gaultier’s subsequent grappling with grief through an oversized, jointly worn garment, the size and weight of which Gaultier subsequently struggles with after his lover’s demise. Unfortunately, such poignancy does not last, and the show quickly moves on rather than allowing us to dwell more effectively in the moment. Nor is the circus-style staging of Menuge’s death especially original or memorable – instead, it just feels a little clichéd.
Adding visual impact to the production are large, concert-style video screens featuring eye-popping graphics and pre-recorded sequences starring Catherine Deneuve and others among Gaultier’s circle of famous friends. Such videos tend to overshadow the talented cast of dancers, singers and acrobats, draining the production’s energy as a result. What remains is visually impressive, but so lacking in substance that it’s quickly forgotten once proceedings have concluded.
Sightlines in the South Bank Piazza can be problematic for those seated at the extreme ends of the 90-degree seating arc. Performances are pitched so centrally – taking advantage of the stage’s extended catwalk – that they’re sometimes obscured by video screens and scaffolding, reducing the impact of the energetic dance numbers and resulting in a frustrating viewing experience.
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Comedic elements – such as the occasional appearance of the fashion police, embodied by a woman resembling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour – feel laboured and flat, and the queerer elements of the production are all too often cancelled out by simulated sexual pairings in which predominantly male-female couples mime cunnilingus and fellatio. In this day and age, having an openly gay designer pander to a majority heterosexual point of view feels frankly tiresome – further detracting from the production as a whole.
Vivid and vibrant it may be but, ultimately, Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fashion Freak Show feels like a confection of spun sugar rather than a clever and subversive treat – a colourful but insubstantial celebration of the French designer’s once bold 50-year career.
Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fashion Freak Show
Creator, Writer, Director and Costume Designer: Jean Paul Gaultier
Co-Director: Tonie Marshall
Choreographer: Marion Motin
Artistic Adviser: Simon Phillips
Co-Writer: Raphaël Cioffi
Associate Director: Fanny Coindet
Lighting Design: Per Hölding
Sound Designer: Keegan Curran
Set Design and Video Co-Design: Justin Nardella
Video Co-Design: Renaud Rubiano
Original Producer: Thierry Suc
International Producer: Garry McQuinn
Tickets: $89 – $149
South Bank Piazza, South Brisbane
30 August – 15 September 2024
The writer visited Brisbane as a guest of Brisbane Festival.
