Alexis Stone Turned Into Jean Paul Gaultier for Campaign
DOUBLE TAKE: If you think Jean Paul Gaultier is springing across a Parisian street holding a baguette aloft in his brand’s latest ready-to-wear campaign, look again.
It’s actually British drag performer and makeup artist Alexis Stone who donned looks out of the “Dress Like Jean Paul” spring collection, inspired by the French designer’s Breton top, also known as a marinière, and kilt.
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Revealed on Wednesday on Instagram, the images were shot by London-based photographer Grant-James Thomas in Paris’ Les Halles neighborhood.
In one image, Stone-as-Gaultier wore a kilt-and-mariniere ensemble that nods to one of the best-known portraits of the French couturier, a 1994 image shot by photographer Jean-Marie Périer for the French edition of Elle that saw him don that seminal striped top and kilt ensemble.
Elsewhere, it’s not one but four Gaultiers that face off at table tennis, three of them wearing long-sleeved stretch tulle gowns with a striped anatomic motif, while the last wears a pinstripe suit and white tank top with a jaunty white sailor hat.
These are among the pieces that will be available from the collection launching Friday that spans ready-to-wear, accessories and swimwear. Expect a profusion of sailor-inspired pieces, many with trompe-l’oeil details, nodding to Gaultier’s 1984 “Homme Objet” and 1996 “Cyberbaba” collections. The kilt too will come in variations that range from the traditional Scottish garment to stretch tulle and swimwear pieces.
In a statement announcing the collection, the British artist said the French designer’s work “encouraged you to be yourself, whoever you are” and was “exactly what fashion should inspire when it is done well.”
“And that’s why transforming myself into Jean Paul Gaultier was easy, because I see myself in this community that he has created,” the performer continued.
An expert at transformation, Stone has attended fashion shows as Jennifer Coolidge, the fictional Mrs. Doubtfire, Dolly Parton and even himself, as well as slipped into the looks of Kim Kardashian and Kate Moss.
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