For the first time in over forty years at the Palais Galliera, an exhibition is being devoted entirely to an accessory, the hat, treating it as a work of art in its own right. The exhibition focuses on Stephen Jones’s creative process, the sources of inspiration behind his pieces, and the role of Paris in his work. We asked Richard Gilles Queerguru’s man in Paris, who knows Jones to review the Exhibit.
“I learnt more hanging around people like Boy George and Judith Frankland who truly lived their fashion than I did in three years at St Martin’s.” Stephen Jones – “We can be heroes” by Graham Smith
When somebody as talented as Mister Jones says that about your best friend – Not George that is! – of course, you going to love him! I had the pleasure to meet and interview on several occasions…very much like his art, he is a delightful, delicate man.
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Stephen Jones’s love affair with France started at a very young age. In the meantime, he moved from Liverpool to London and frequented the Blitz and there are references to Steve Strange, Rusty Egan and his three muses at the time, the statuesque Kim Bowen, Princess Julia, and the ultimate fashion icon at the time, Scarlett Cannon.
What follows could be summed up by Edwina Monsoon‘s “Names, names, names!”: Gaultier, Montana, Mugler, Comme, Viv, John Galliano, Givenchy, Dior… the endless beauty of Mister Jomes’s creations… A must-see!
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Stephen Jones, chapeaux d’artiste https://www.palaisgalliera.paris.fr/en/expositions/stephen-jones-chapeaux-dartiste From 19.10.2024 to 16.03.2025 |
Richard Gilles (Paris) is slightly past his prime, but still a vivacious true Parisian spirit. He has worked as a journalist in the spheres of the arts and luxury for the last few decades and is now the happy correspondent for QueerGuru in the City of Lights.
