Jean Paul Gaultier at the opening of his retrospective exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts: “The first time I saw Madonna was on Top of the Pops. She was singing ‘Holiday,’ and she had a fabulous look. (I actually thought that she was English because she was so stylish.) She was into the same things that I was doing at the time, like crosses, oversized jewelry, and fishnets. The second time I saw her live was at the first MTV awards in New York at Radio City Music Hall. It must have been 1984. She sang ‘Like A Virgin’ in a wedding dress and was simulating ‘self contentment’ or ‘self satisfaction,’ to put it euphemistically. The audience was mostly business people, who were horrified. There were just a few young fans — and me, who absolutely loved it. That is when I realized that she couldn’t care less what others thought of her, and I also saw how powerful she was.” [Opening Ceremony]
