Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has basically ‘culturally hijacked’ our society since 1969. He was born in 1949 in Casablanca, Morocco. As the Marquis de Castelbajac, he is a French nobleman. His childhood ironically was spent at a military boarding school surrounded by boring washed-out colours in this hostile environment. His first collection was inspired by the mundane objects of his school days . The highlight of his debut show was a coat cut from his boarding school blanket.
The French fashion maverick is a star of the ’70s and ’80s, that’s why you may not be aware of him now. His witty and ostentatious designs blend bright colours, pop culture and comedy. His collections are very cartoon influenced and pay homage to a wide range of genres.
The French fashion maverick is a star of the ’70s and ’80s, that’s why you may not be aware of him now. His witty and ostentatious designs blend bright colours, pop culture and comedy. His collections are very cartoon influenced and pay homage to a wide range of genres.
In 1972, Jean Charles joined the Créateurs et Industriels run by the architect Andree Putman. Later that year he took a trip to London and he met Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren, Zandra Rhodes, Ossie Clark and the New York Dolls. So you can imagine he was part of the coolest underground IT club in London. These artists, rockers, musicians and socialists all became lifelong friends. He returned to Paris with new inspiration, his mind expanded and he stepped outside the muted colour palette box and into an explosion of colour and fun.
He then opened his UK flagship store on Conduit Street with a retro cool fashion installation in the form of a Rubik’s Cube till, designed by himself and architect Christian Ghion, which sent Britain’s Elite Fashion Pack into orgasmic frenzies!
In the 70’s and 80’s his pop, kitch, post-modernism collections were worn primarily by the elite fashionistas who could afford his garms. In the mid 70’s he dressed the beautiful Farah Fawcett for the iconic TV series ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ He also collaborated with Rock n’Roll ledgends Mick Jagger and Elton John.
He then opened his UK flagship store on Conduit Street with a retro cool fashion installation in the form of a Rubik’s Cube till, designed by himself and architect Christian Ghion, which sent Britain’s Elite Fashion Pack into orgasmic frenzies!
In the 70’s and 80’s his pop, kitch, post-modernism collections were worn primarily by the elite fashionistas who could afford his garms. In the mid 70’s he dressed the beautiful Farah Fawcett for the iconic TV series ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ He also collaborated with Rock n’Roll ledgends Mick Jagger and Elton John.
In 1976, years before the puffa (bommer) jacket became the uniform of the masses, he created his famous duvet ski jacket featuring transparent plastic pockets filled with brightly coloured feathers.
He married the beautiful Katherine Lee Chambers in 1979 and had two boys. But this marriage to the fashion journalist and model ended in divorce.
He’s pop, he’s kitch, he’s bright and bold and knows how to have fun with fashion. Art and music were always huge in his life, they made him think, be creative and dream. He always surrounded himself with young American artists like Keith Harring. It comes as no surprise that Castelbajac was friends with both Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat the poster boys of binary oppositions where brand logos and iconic images are mixed to produce haut-couture pieces. Both Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat used classical masterpieces juxtaposed with brand logos, exploring consumer culture and highbrow art simultaneously.
Keith Harring actually taught Jean-Charles how to draw. He collaborated with Harring and Warhol in some of his collections too. He produced a Campbell’s Soup Can dress and garments emblazoned with Harring’s iconic images. He’s inspired by many English artists too like Gavin Turk, David Shrigley and Banksy.
Jean-Charles then worked with a series of irreverent underground yet successful (in their own right) artists to create a Pop Art inspired collection using their work. Robert Combas Jean-Charles Blais and Loulou Picasso were among this list. His whimsical designs brought him much press but he was truly put on the map and made famous when Madonna sported his teddy-bear coat in the late 80’s.
The 90’s saw huge change in the industry and Jean-Charles believes this is because “The industry became very corporate, with empires like Gucci and Prada really beginning to monopolise.” He stopped showing for 3 years in the early 90’s and his brand went through a ‘quieter period’ with him taking a back seat amongst the fashion pack.
Jean-Charles then worked with a series of irreverent underground yet successful (in their own right) artists to create a Pop Art inspired collection using their work. Robert Combas Jean-Charles Blais and Loulou Picasso were among this list. His whimsical designs brought him much press but he was truly put on the map and made famous when Madonna sported his teddy-bear coat in the late 80’s.
The 90’s saw huge change in the industry and Jean-Charles believes this is because “The industry became very corporate, with empires like Gucci and Prada really beginning to monopolise.” He stopped showing for 3 years in the early 90’s and his brand went through a ‘quieter period’ with him taking a back seat amongst the fashion pack.
In ’96-’97 he was living in Vienna and although he was in a very creative space, he wasn’t coping very well. Then he got the break he’d been waiting for when in ’97 he was asked to dress the Pope. This was an amazing opportunity for a struggling, creative artist. His rainbow flag vestments for the Pope scored him mainstream recognition. Overnight one million kids were wearing his t-shirts.
This sudden interest in his collection again sent him back to his roots and his archives. He decided to give people Pop because we live in a 21st Century Pop World. He compares his work to that of his good friend Franco Moschino, both had fun with fashion and had a different vision of the world. They stuck to their vision and it just so happened that the world was also moving in that direction so people were ready to receive their collections rapturously.
He spent the first 30 years of his fashion career doing things on his own, he was both the designer and the company director of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. This meant that he had full say on everything but he did struggle at times and he often had to sell off his Basquiat paintings just to survive.
However in 2001 real financial backing came from the British company Marchpole. They were a big, well-funded company that could offer him real support both financially and creatively. Then the most extraordinary thing happened as he explains, “The 90’s saw me go from US Vogue, to Ghetto Fabulous!”
Out of the blue, cool Hip Hop god’s like LL Cool J started wearing his stuff. He was never really into Hip Hop he was more of a of a Punky/Rock n’Roller. So he thought it was crazy that in NYC all the rappers were wearing his Felix the Cat designs. Then the Hip Hop fans wanted a piece of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac’s action and sales went through the roof. That’s when they all started calling him JC/DC and he was overwhelmed, he thought it was so cute and embraced the new name and the whole scene!
His collections have exploded onto the mass-market in the last couple of years with the help of Pop Queens Lady Gaga, Madonna and Katy Perry. Dizzee Rascal is a fan and The Black Eye Peas background visuals for Where is the Love on the X Factor recently was more than heavily influenced by JC/DC. Singer Will I Am is obsessed with the designer. His new look is never short of a JC/DC accessory whether it’s a colourful Lego hat or a Packman Pendant!
JC/DC has been dressing M.I.A for a for a couple of years and Santogold is wearing his clothes too. He’s befriended artists such as Curry & Coco, Cassette Playa and The Coconut Twins. He is working on a project with Ebony Bones and Crystal Castles. He loves music and his current wife, Mareva Galanter is a singer, actress and former ‘Miss France’ who has collaborated with Rufus Wainright.
In the first scene of the epic Telephone ft Beyonce video, we can see Lady Gaga wearing a stripy custom-made uber-fashionable prisoners uniform made out of leather with huge shoulders designed by Castelbajac. Gaga’s not the only one who Fashion Director, Nicola Formichetti puts in JC/DC, Beyonce got to wear a blue sateen blazer with printed faces and Swarovski crystals and chains emblazoned all over it. She wore wicked shoes which were totally covered in beads both items were from the JC/DC Spring/Summer 2010 Collection. (see pic above)
His Spring/Summer 2009 collection which is his most recognisable and possibly his best to- date featured the world’s favourite toy – Lego! The models sported hats and glasses made of Lego as they walked in cloud-printed pants.
This most recent show featured sexy military inspired airhostess costumes and then moved into Safari animal print with interesting twists. The secondary star of the show was Le Petit Prince! Famous faces and animal heads could be spotted cleverly placed amongst the camouflage. He was really just wetting our appetites with the opening and then about halfway through he gave people what they want in true JC/DC style. Stripes of multi-coloured block prints mixed with animal print and cartoon images came down the runway in sequence. Quirky details were added to the mix in the shape of a Zebra pimp cane and one model wore a multi-coloured billowing flag dress. Alice in Wonderland clocks and miniature Eiffel Tower statues hung from the necks of models. Here’s the video so have a look and let me know what you think in the comments below!
He is oh-so-Hot-right-now, it seems Jean-Charles de Castelbajac can simply do no wrong. You can see his influence all over the runways of London and New York with designers like Henry Holland, Giles Deacon, Ashish Gupta and Jeremy Scott leading the pack but Jean-Charles must be the Godfather of this print driven Pop Art movement in fashion and he is definitely our favourite.
Jean Charles-de-Castelbajac - Felix the Cat lives on in this Nigerian-inspired fabric...
MoniCa singh
Courtesy : http://www.jc-de-castelbajac.com/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment