Enjoy an Exciting Oriental Journey of Cultures to the Global Village “Le Grand Voyage” F/W 1994

Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fall/Winter 1994–95 Le Grand Voyage collection explores global culture through clothing. It blends influences from around the world into a unified style.

Although this blog started as a way to document Junior Gaultier items I own and which collections they belong to, I have strayed into including mainline and Gaultier Jean’s items. I enjoy learning about Gaultier’s design process and influences, although I go down so many rabbit holes, it takes me forever to finish a post.

The theme of the collection

Gaultier’s mix of wools, silks, velvet textiles, and damask Asian patterns evokes an Oriental journey that is not specific to one culture. According to Gaultier, the concept behind the collection was a magical train that stopped at the smallest of villages where locals would gather to sell their wares.

The bull motif runs through the entire collection and appears on jacquard panels on the sleeves of the jumper I am wearing, as well as on the reverse of the waistcoat below. The front of the waistcoat is pure silk with jacquard ornate writhing mythical beasts, including a dragon similar to those associated with the emperor of China and symbolic of imperial power. Jacquard is a fabric with intricate patterns and images woven into the weave, rather than printed on the surface. The Gaultier Jean’s line uses this technique on the most amazing denim pieces using a Pegasus motif.

Continuing contemporary media’s love of vintage JPG, Euphoria’s opening episode of season two saw Zendaya’s character Rue do New Year’s Eve in the same kimono wrap vest teamed with a pair of Roberto Cavalli striped flares.

The jewellery from the collection is stunning, echoing the mythical creatures of the clothing with ram’s head medallions, lions, and serpents, created in matt copper metal with ruby-esque beads threaded on safety-pin chains. The oriental style JPG logotype that features on the coat that Björk wears is also featured on some pieces, along with the obligatory skulls.

Pierced bulls of the zodiac

I only recently acquired this item of knitwear from the ‘Le Grand Voyage’ of Autumn / Winter 1994, and I love it. I’ve been in love with the bull motif from this collection after seeing an ornate umbrella with the Taurus zodiac sign and a cast metal tip.

The bull pattern looks very similar to the Taurus zodiac sign that Gaultier himself has tattooed on his arm. The bull with a pierced nose would reappear in the ‘Safe Sex Forever’ collection of Spring Summer 1996.

At the show

For the show in Paris on Sunday, 6 March 1994, Gaultier turned an old train depot into a winter wonderland with fake snow to further immerse the audience in the idea of being on the journey. On the runway, Björk (who won the best International Female at the BRIT Awards that year – with the award presented by Gaultier) wore a fur-lined coat reminiscent of traditional garments associated with Tibetan Sherpas.

The show invitation, which strictly forbade personal photographic equipment, offered a mandatory ticket to the Transoccidental Orient‑Express. Printed on the invite was the destination of 38 Avenue Riel, 75014 Paris, although in my investigations, the nearest depot was Dépôt de Paris-Vaugirard, an old steam locomotive depot opened in 1840 on the Versailles Rive-Gauche line, near the Montparnasse area, south of central Paris, but not at the exact address.

What is a global village?

Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan came up with the concept of a “global village” in 1964 after noticing how the media had transcended geographical boundaries, bringing the world’s people closer together, making them neighbours, and transforming the planet into a vast global village.

In the August 1994 issue of Vogue, “chic” is added to the global village idea to describe Gaultier’s spring 1994 show ‘Les Tatouages’ as “global village chic” with its confluence of cultures. As we know, different cultures and religions inspired him, and during a backstage interview in 1995, he declared an “all-embracing love and curiosity about the planet.”

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier Exhibition. Laika ac from USA, Laika ac Gaultier (7174607536), CC BY-SA 2.0

Positioned within the Junior Gaultier collections 1988–1995, this collection highlights an important stage in the label’s evolution.