Gaultier receives Ischia Global Fest Excellence Award

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jul 10, 2017

Jean-Paul Gaultier was awarded Italy’s top prize representing cinema and fashion, the Ischia Global Fest Excellence Award, on Sunday night amid scenes worthy of a Fellini movie before an audience of Oscar winners.

In a meeting of many artistic skills, the French couturier accepted his prize along with star actor John Savage; Oscar winning makeup master Alessandro Bertolazzi; and new modeling superstar Alice Peneaca.
 
“I became a designer because of cinema. And film has inspired my fashion for over more 50 years. I discovered the film Falbalas and the power to create fascinated me. And I decided I wanted to be a designer,” explained Gaultier, standing on a rostrum under a full moon at midnight before giant Mediterranean cliffs.

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He was referring to the cult classic, Falbalas (known in English as Paris Frills), directed by Jacques Becker and starring Micheline Presle, which was shot in 1944 during the German occupation of Paris but only released after the war. A stylish yet dark tale of a young provincial woman who is seduced by a Don Juan couturier - and best friend of her fiancé - who rejects her, changes his mind and takes his own life when she spurns his change of heart.
 
“I’ve had the chance to work with some of the greatest filmmakers. With Luc Besson and Jean-Pierre Jeunet or twice with Pedro Almodóvar. So I know what genius is in cinema and how great an art is film,” said Gaultier who received his award from Fiona Swarovski, the jewelry designer. A member of the billionaire crystal clan from Austria, Swarovski owns the famous seaside mansion of Gracie Fields in Capri, the other legendary island in the Bay of Naples.
 
“Tonight it is an honor to accept this award, and to visit your beautiful island,” added Gaultier to cheers from the audience that included Trudie Styler; the Oscar winning producer Marina Cicogna; Paul Haggis, a double Oscar winner for writing and producing Crash and Million Dollar Baby; and Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, i.e. the Oscars.
 
Each night, the festival’s founder and producer Pascale Vicedomini presents awards in various picturesque settings on the volcanic island. Other stars that will receive awards this year are Antonio Banderas, Mira Sorvino and legendary music producer Clive Davis.