Mix Master: Parisian DJ Michel Gaubert sets the soundtrack for fashion’s most extravagant spectacles
By Laura deCarufel
Michel Gaubert has a laugh that makes you want to get him alone with a gin and tonic and a confidentiality vow, and ask him to dish about his three decades in the fashion world. Rarely in the spotlight but always in the vanguard (and on the guest list), Gaubert is an insider’s insider, the style set’s most trusted DJ. He’s partied with Thierry Mugler and Jerry Hall, collaborated with Longchamp, and created runway soundtracks for power houses such as Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten and—most notably and consistently—for Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel.
“I do love Karl,” says Gaubert in his husky Parisian drawl. “He doesn’t say, ‘The collection is like this, so how about this song?’ We’ll sit and talk about music and fashion for an hour, and ideas will emerge. He’s so open to trying crazy things—as long as they’re the right crazy things.” For Chanel’s Fall 2008 ready-to-wear show, models boarded a two-tier carousel to “Blind” by Hercules and Love Affair. For Spring 2011 ready-to-wear, Gaubert enlisted an 80-piece philharmonic orchestra to interpret soaring tunes by Björk and the Verve at the Grand Palais; perfecting the 19-minute piece took two months and eight rehearsals.
But Gaubert points out that the idea needn’t be très fou to work. For Chanel’s Cruise 2012 collection, shown at the storied Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, he delved into his “hundreds of thousands” of tracks to create a “Riviera mood” by way of Prince and Janelle Monáe. “Cruise should be very carefree,” he explains. “I’d recently watched Under the Cherry Moon [Prince’s 1986 directorial debut], and it turns out that some of it was shot at the Eden-Roc. Janelle is very warm, very jazzy, but there’s still something quite grand about her.” His favourite part of designing soundtracks is the preparation. “I love watching everything come together. Once the show begins, I’m on a different planet.”
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