Jean Paul Gaultier: Fashion Freak Show – Roundhouse, London

Jean Paul Gaultier: Fashion Freak Show continues at the Roundhouse, London until 28 August 2022.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

It’s difficult to try to categorise Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fashion Freak Show, which is currently running at the Roundhouse in Camden. On the one hand it’s a playful history of the renowned fashion designer from his youth, growing up in suburban Paris, to his global recognition, creating for the likes of Madonna, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.

The Fashion Freak Show could also be considered a circus of sorts, featuring plenty of acrobatics and aerialists in an array of outrageous costumes. It could also be a contemporary dance show, with choreographer Marion Motin creating a series of vibrant, narrative dance routines that illustrate episodes of Gaultier’s life and experience. It is also very much a technical marvel, featuring some stunning digital effects by Australian designer Justin Nardella.

Yet permeating throughout this collaboration is the influence of Gaultier himself. The original enfant terrible, Gaultier pushed the boundaries of haute couture in the early 1980s. His work is perhaps best remembered for its extremes, such as Madonna’s cone-bra for the singer’s Blonde Ambition tour, the Marinière striped sailor shirt, as featured on his signature scent Le Male and once considered shocking outside of Scotland – men in kilts. Fashion Freak Show showcases many of these ideas and explores how the designer has shocked the fashion world over and over, embracing everything from unconventional models to the fetish scene.

If your only knowledge of Gaultier was his stint on the 90s show Eurotrash, then Fashion Freak Show will be even more of an eye-opener. There’s a wonderful scene depicting his first fashion show in 1976, which captures the organised chaos of the journey to the runway. Sashaying models snarl at the audience to the thumping beat of the music as the punk-influenced collection is revealed. It’s perhaps at this moment that Fashion Freak Show is at its best.

There are also plenty of guest appearances from French comedians and celebrities too and these are probably the least successful moments. Awkwardly filmed, oddly scripted fillers shown between the action on stage that seem to drain the energy of the live scenes.

The host is not Gaultier of course, but his substitute is the striking French rock singer Demi Mondaine, who engages heartily with the audience and belts out several hits along the way. Mondaine’s script might be a little gauche but her vocal range and ability to ignite an audience into having a good time is priceless here. There are also standout performances from Pierre-Antoine Bardot as the spirit of the young Gaultier and the stunning aerialist Beau Sargent.

Fashion Freak Show may be flawed in terms of its structure, but there’s absolutely nothing like it in London. It celebrates circus, dance and fashion with an irresistible energy, accompanied by a mix of familiar pop songs, live music and eye-popping digital projection. Although Gaultier is credited as author and director, he is supported by a team, which includes Tonie Marshall, who created a documentary on Gaultier in 2004, and of course choreographer Motin, who gives the show its unique energy.

Paul Vale