The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 's latest exhibit "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk" just opened. The exhibit, which marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Gaultier's own label, features 130 different outfits with additional accessories, a collection that Gaultier calls, "The things I am proud of." The museum insists that although this is the first exhibit devoted to Gaultier's work, it is "not a retrospective" as Gaultier continues to be a powerful force in the world of contemporary fashion design.

Suzy Menkes, fashion critic at the International Herald Tribune, attended the opening and praised the longevity of Gaultier's designs, "You look back and you see pieces and they could be done today. I think that's really fantastic. Nothing looks out of date, not even Madonna's corset. The famous corsets Gaultier designed for Madonna's "Blonde Ambition" tour that are on display came straight from the Queen of Pop's closet. She is not the only friend who contributed personal work: Kylie Minogue, David LaChapelle, Steven Meisel and many more celebrated artists' work is shown in the exhibit.

The clothes are not just displayed on your average mannequin: in true avant garde style faces of those close to Gaultier are projected onto the mannequin's modeled heads- Gaultier's own countenance is even present on one lucky model (see video below, it is truly mind blowing). Thierry-Maxime Loriot, the curator at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts explains the innovative method of display: "If you know Jean Paul Gaultier's world then you see how creative and how alive and fun it is. It would be wrong to show his work only on boring mannequins."

The exhibit will be at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts until October 2 and will then travel to the Dallas Museum of Art from November 13, 2011to February 12, 2012 and eventually end up at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco from March 24 to August 19, 2012. If you can't make it to the exhibit, check out this video made by our friends at VideoFashion: :