“From the sidewalk to the catwalk” and working with many stars such as Madonna and Lady Gaga, Jean Paul Gaultier brings fashion to San Francisco at the de Young Museum.

The museum, established in 1895 and located in San Francisco’s well-known Golden Gate Park, is hosting the “Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier,” the first international exhibition devoted to the French couturier.

Today, Gaultier is indisputably recognized as one of the important designers in the fashion world.

The exhibit shows how Gaultier’s upbringing by strong women caused him to reinterpret the feminine body through fashion by bringing back the corset to show the world that femininity is not the weaker sex.

Gaultier’s style of fashion is very different from other fashion designers and the exhibit shows how his fashion evolved over the course of his career.

The exhibit was also shown in Dallas Museum of Art in Texas, and will run in San Francisco until mid-August.

“The exhibit took about four months to set up,” says Sunny Green, a de Young Museum staff member.

The mannequins at the exhibit were technologically advanced, the faces looked disturbingly realistic and it spoke directly toward the tourists.

“Before the opening, [of the exhibit] the mannequins’ faces kept morphing off and we didn’t know what to do,” says Green. “But luckily, we figured it out.”

Many stars and celebrities have worn Gaultier’s designs, including Madonna on her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour.

There is a room in the exhibit dedicated to Madonna and photos of her wearing Gaultier’s corset and cone bra.

“I asked him to redo the velvet cone bras for the ‘Vogue’ video, and they were used in the Blond Ambition shows after that,” stated Madonna. “I never thought that tour ad those costumes would end up having such an impact – and a lasting one – on the media, music, fashion and pop culture in general, although it is great they did.

“Playing with the idea of gender, of what is masculine and feminine, and giving it a theatrical, humorous twist – it was a kind of political statement.”

There was even a room dedicated to both looks of hypersexualized and transgender.

Gaultier’s collection is representative of many different cultures and is extremely detail-oriented.

“The designs are amazing! Gaultier has out done himself and I just learned who he really is,” said museum attendee Michelle Garcia.