Su Ann, a 28-year-old Singaporean teacher, had never seen a couture creation up close and could only dream of wearing a pricey designer label.
But thanks to a new exhibition by flamboyant designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, Su Ann and other residents of the label-conscious city state can indulge their passion for high fashion without having to spend a cent.
PHOTO: REUTERS
They can even play at being catwalk supermodels for the French couture king who is famous for his overtly sexy and androgynous outfits. But there is a catch: they can't take the creations home, but nor would they want to.
The French designer has teamed up with a fashion curator to produce an interactive exhibition in a Singapore museum which invites visitors to take part in a simulated fashion show dressed up in Gaultier-inspired outfits.
The exhibition forms part of Singapore's annual fashion festival and offers a showcase for Gaultier's avant garde style as the label launches an expansion drive in Asia, with stores planned in Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei.
The quirky new designs at the exhibition are not likely to appear on any store shelves.
The would-be fashionistas don a white gown at the beginning of the show and walk through a series of rooms in which they choose Gaultier "accessories" made out of paper, cardboard and cloth.
They emerge on a catwalk to strike various dramatic poses and a photographer superimposes their face on an image of a real Gaultier outfit they have chosen.
The models take home a printout of their experience as a souvenir of their moment in the fashion spotlight.
"A garment is a state of mind ... it is the screen for a nice surprise," Jean-Louis Froment, the show's curator, told Reuters in an interview, saying Gaultier aimed to create an interactive experience using aesthetic and playful objects.
Visitors were in high spirits as they applied neon-colored false lips and tried out a selection of cardboard wigs before strutting along the catwalk.
"It brings out people's creativity and encourages you to break out from your shell, especially for Singaporeans who are generally reserved," said Lani Chan, a 41-year-old manager. "I think everybody dressed themselves up well. It's interesting to see the different elements that emerged."
The exhibition, which debuted in Tokyo last year, runs for three weeks at Singapore's Asian Civilizations Museum before heading to Paris. Asia is already a key market for Gaultier, contributing one-third of the brand's retail turnover of 600 million euros (US$522 million) last year. But although the Gaultier label aims to make inroads in Asia, organizers say the show is not intended as a commercial fashion promotion.
"This is a creation by Jean-Paul Gaultier for a museum. A reflection on the artistic spirit of a fashion designer more than that for a fashion show," Froment said. "This is not a fashion showcase."
Su Ann, whose only exposure to Gaultier until now was through wearing the designer's perfume, enjoyed her fleeting fashion experience. "It's just an opportunity for people to dress up in high-camp fashion," she said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his