A First Nations artist’s week with Jean Paul Gaultier

When Grace Lillian Lee, best known for her traditional grasshopper-weave technique and wearable art pieces, was asked to work with French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier for his Brisbane Festival exclusive, Fashion Freak Show, she couldn’t believe her luck. A whirlwind week in Paris became a career epiphany for the First Nations fashion designer.

Jean Paul Gaultier and Grace Lillian Lee in Paris.

What was it like meeting Jean Paul Gaultier for the first time?
We met a week before Paris Fashion Week in September 2023, and I was lucky to even get time with him during such a busy period. I remember standing outside his famous studio at 325 Rue Saint Martin in the heart of Paris, thinking he was behind those doors. I stood staring at this grand seven-storey ornate French building feeling overwhelmed. It’s where he does the runways of the fashion week shows, so we’ve all had a glimpse inside before, but I was actually here.

As I walked in, I was greeted by a large reception area filled with black tiles. There’s a large print of his face with a doorway that doubles as his mouth you walk through. He came out to greet me and was so down-to-earth and humble that I instantly felt welcomed. He quickly whisked me up the grand marble staircase. I felt like a kid in a candy shop being by his side. He was keen to show me his archives and talk about his creative processes. He wanted to know about mine, too. That a genius like Jean Paul Gaultier just asked about my work was more than a pinch-me fan-girl moment.

We were also told that we didn’t have access to the atelier area as pieces were being finalised for Paris Couture Fashion Week, but Jean Paul nudged me and said he’d get me in and he did. Then he took me to lunch – he ordered scallops in a buttery sauce and I ate fish. Everyone knew he was in the restaurant when we were there. We drank a small glass of wine to celebrate our collaboration, then strolled back to his studio. For a girl from Cairns, ending up in Paris with Jean Paul Gaultier is still the biggest and best thing that’s happened in my career.

Tell us about the piece you made for Fashion Freak Show.
Fashion Freak Show is the life story of Jean Paul Gaultier. My weave appears in the final section, called The Freaks – it’s where he is truly expressing himself. At his studio, when I opened my suitcase to show him my iconic weaves, he was in awe, wanting to know more about my technique and history. He enjoyed seeing my work and let me have my artistic moment, putting a lot of trust in me and giving me carte blanche to make what I wanted.

While in Paris, I acquired the fabrics from the famous Montmartre district. He wanted me to use a salmon-coloured fabric as a nod to his original corset design, and we added a deluxe satin to it. Then I went for a Medusa weave concept – it appears as a woven body piece on the dancers in the section.

This opportunity was made possible by Brisbane Festival director Louise Bezzina, who approached the Jean Paul Gaultier team. She saw the original Freak Show overseas and had the idea for us to work together.

You are known for your grasshopper-weave technique, which is traditional to your Torres Strait Islander heritage. Tell us about your fashion journey and finding your couture voice?
I studied Fashion at RMIT and lived in Melbourne for seven years, but it wasn’t until my final year, then moving back to Cairns, that I really focused on weaving. My grandmother, Marcella Lillian Lee, who died last year, was never a weaver, but it was her story of our connection to the Torres Strait Islands that inspired me.

The women around me also encouraged me, and Uncle Ken Thaiday [a well-known Torres Strait Islander artist] mentored me through the weaving and taught me how to do palm fronds. Former Sass & Bide designer Sophie Nixon was also a mentor; she was the one who told me I should work on the weave as a career.

You’re about to launch a commercial range of neckties. What inspired this move?
I’ve been weaving for 14 years and never thought about making a commercial product – this is first and foremost an art practice. And my designs won’t ever go to a manufacturing plant to be mass-produced. They simply can’t. I wanted to make sure our First Nations culture isn’t being diluted with my work, but I have had guidance from elders who are okay with this next step.

To relaunch the weave as a new product is a chance to be seen on a global scale, and collaborating with JPG reminded me that this is possible. This opportunity with JPG has been monumental in my life and career, and I’d like to go to Europe to see what the next steps are for me.

What are some of your favourite JPG fashion moments?
I am a huge fan of Luc Besson’s 1997 sci-fi thriller The Fifth Element. I think all the costuming and his vision for that film – bright-coloured and detailed in every way – were beyond epic. And, of course, the Madonna corset is hugely famous and another favourite of mine.

Who’s the most famous person to purchase your wearable art?
I got a call from Priscilla Presley which was pretty cool and definitely a wild experience for me. My mum is a huge Elvis fan, and I have been brought up with a life-sized poster of Elvis Presley in our toilet.

Priscilla left a voice message on my phone for me to call her back, and I fell off my chair. The first thing I screamed out to my dad was, “Elvis is in the building!” He said, “What are you talking about, Grace?” It was very special moment and I still have the recording on my phone as a reminder that she rang.

Jean Paul Gaultier on working with Grace Lillian Lee
For me, it was evident when I first met Grace and held her sculptures that she was an artist; her couture-like work was shockingly good in the flesh. She’d already created something magnificent in my eyes, and I knew she would bring her skill to a piece for The Freak Show, so there was very little to brief her on. In reality, I didn’t have to tell Grace anything about what to create for me. I could see she was very talented, that she has her own couture skill set, and that her work has universal appeal. Creativity is all about being spontaneously emotional with your work; we have that in common.

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