Jean Paul Gaultier’s Spring/Summer 1991 Adam and Eve: Rastas of Today collection explores identity, culture, and nature. It combines different influences to create a layered, expressive style.
- Collection: Adam and Eve: Rastas of Today
- Season: Spring/Summer 1991
- Location: Paris — archival location data unavailable
- Theme: Nature, identity, and cultural hybridity
Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington
Gaultier’s Spring/Summer 1991 “Adam et Ève” show featured both menswear and womenswear collections with a theme of romantic love.
The show starts very dramatically with birdsong filling the air, and through epilepsy-inducing flashes of dawn, the first models were ‘90s reincarnations of Adam and Eve. Adam wore a fig leaf and sported an ineffective-looking parasol, whilst Eve wore a bra with a serpent entwined around her bosom. Eve soon tempted Adam with a Pink Lady plucked from a cardboard tree of knowledge. Once the lights are up, Deee-lite’s “Power of Love” accompanies a less naked Adam and Eve down the runway, identically dressed in brown leggings, brown t-shirts and similar brown jackets with different silhouettes. Huge, untidy wigs are a theme of the show, fluctuating between black dreadlocks and pink Louis XIV hairstyles.
In an article entitled “The Maestro of Mayhem” in the March 1991 issue of Vogue, Georgina Howell captures the scene: “A black tunnel of metal girders, a man and a woman in matching candy-floss pink trouser suits and Marie Antoinette ringlets waltz in slo-mo, eye to eye.” Among the audience is Madonna, who declares to Howell, “This is my absolute favourite show. Always, always Gaultier, long before he did my world tour.”
Top photographer Herb Ritts—who, the previous year, shot the iconic portrait of Jean-Paul Gaultier embracing Madonna—documents the show, while fellow photographer Roxanne Lowit proclaims, “Gaultier is Vivienne Westwood plus couture and admiration.”
I’m interpreting that the pairs of Adams and Eves are wearing the same outfits, as they had previously been naked and worked together on creating their first form of clothing, possibly not being aware of the concept of gender and biological sex. Despite contrasting ensembles popping up here and there, the theme of nearly identical his-and-hers outfits stays strong throughout the show. I hadn’t realised how much I like brown until now, especially when juxtaposed with the muted tones of fuchsia and cyan.
I was told that the T-shirt I’m wearing above was from the “Adam et Ève” collection, and I couldn’t see the link, to be honest, until I saw the magazine advert for the collection. Next to billowy white chiffon clouds, two cherubs circle two men who are wearing similar suits in orange and pink, with hair colours that match their suits.
Reggae’s influence on fashion
Bob Marley, the poster boy for reggae music, is partly responsible for its association with the Rasta community, frequently including Rasta teachings and themes in his songs. Of course, Reggae’s influence isn’t limited to music; it has made a significant impact on global fashion and style. The bold and colourful clothing choices, often featuring rasta colours of red, green, and gold, have become synonymous with reggae culture.
With the rasta palette being all around us (including the official flag of Ethiopia), it’s easy to forget that the colours hold symbolic significance for Rastafarians and represent different aspects of their beliefs and identity. Red signifies the blood of those killed for the cause of the black community throughout history. Yellow signifies the vast wealth and riches which belong to the African continent. Green signifies the lushness of the Promised Land of Ethiopia.
Gaultier returned to the rasta influence, this time for couture in spring 2004, with a lot more emphasis on the culture. Hot on his heels, John Galiano followed with the Dior fall 2004 collection, using the Rasta colour swatches and Reggae imagery. In spring 2016, Tommy Hilfiger sent models down the runway in red, green, and gold, and even Christian Louboutin got in on the act with rasta-coloured heels.
Flamboyant choice
A 1990 LA Times article by Mary Rourke gave us her insight into the show:
“Showpieces include a coat for romantic-minded career women, which was navy blue pinstripe to the waist with a burst of navy blue tulle from there to the floor. The clear vinyl matador’s jacket embroidered in gold and jewels was the men’s wear item of flamboyant choice.”
I don’t think there’s any other way to wear a matador jacket out to dinner other than flamboyantly! The jacket, or “chaquetilla”, is the most important part of a bullfighter’s outfit, exquisitely crafted in silk and adorned with sequins, metallic thread, and embroidery.
Gaultier had a challenge trying to improve on the chaquetilla, but he managed it with his tried and tested technique of deconstructivism, floating the luxurious adornments of raised gold embroidery, sequins, green gemstones, and tassels made of golden silk over the form of a transparent plastic jacket. The jacket had an ethereal feel, with the components looking like a circuit board or the human circulatory system – all for the modest price of $10,000.
Gaultier prints from everyday objects
There are two similar prints that I know of from this collection, loosely resembling Hermès prints. One consists of vintage electrical fans, plugs and swirls of electrical cords. The possibly more male-oriented print consists of broken combs, electric shavers, razor blades, toothbrushes, and toothpaste tubes squirting out ribbons of toothpaste. The electrical fan print was featured on a variety of Junior Gaultier items, including dresses, bustiers, and even old-fashioned bloomers.
From the runway show invite to a T-shirt
If you are going to create a stunning invite to Gaultier’s Spring / Summer 1991 runway show, it makes sense to repurpose the artwork for a Junior Gaultier T-shirt.
This collection belongs to the wider 1988–1995 Junior Gaultier collections, which document the line’s progression over time.
