To the unitiated, Jean Paul Goude is probably most well known for being Mr Grace Jones and her “image maker” as he describes the relationship politely to a packed audience of fashion and design students.
Jean Paul has done far more than his collaboration with 80s style icon Grace Jones in his 30 year career. The former art director of Esquire magazine has created ad campaigns for Chanel (starring Vanessa Paradis famously perched in a bird cage), Perrier and was behind the 1989 bi-centennial parade celebrations in Paris, commissioned by then President Mitterand nonetheless.
Tonight he premieres his film ‘Heartbeat’ a film tracing his eclectic influences and highlighting his diverse portfolio which has led to some describing him as a ‘polymath’.
‘Heartbeat’ is accompanied by a pounding film score made up of Jungle beats, African drumming and rather bizarrely classic American musicals like ‘West Side Story’, ‘Hair’ and ‘Singing In The Rain’. The film itself seems like Jean Paul Goude’s stream of consciousness with hard and fast clips of ballet icons Rudolf Nureyev and boxing icons like Muhammed Ali. There are also clips of Andy Warhol, tap dancers, strippers, pole dancers, mock bull fighting, wild animals and the original version of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book.
What is apparent from the film is that Jean Paul was and is heavily influenced by black American culture and French colonialism – he is not embarrassed about being influenced by the latter. He says: “I grew up in a black neighbourhood in France, surrounded by black culture, it was post war too.” Jean Paul adds: “My mother was a dancer so that is where my other interest lies, I also like all sorts of percussion music, and hip hop.” He jokes: “My son who is 25 years old is a hip-hopper.”
When asked by a curious fashion student why he has not been approached by MTV to direct music videos post Grace Jones, he says: “I did that for three years, it is like the military, once you have done it you don’t want to go back.”
So what is in store for Jean Paul Goude in the future? “I want to write another book like ‘So Far So Goude’ but longer, I wrote a book previously called ‘Jungle Fever’ and perhaps a film.’
Does he have any tips for current fashion students or students who have just graduated? “I didn’t like studying, I was bad at it. I was lucky as I was good at drawing and got my first job at a department store.”
‘So Far So Goude’ is published by Thames&Hudson priced at £40