(Photos by Tom Foremski.)

Dan was walking along the sidewalk outside the de Young museum, which is staging "Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk" (you can see the white lettering by his shoulder).

I asked him where was going, he said he was marching, on a forced march, you know how it is. I said I did, I said we are all marching, even when we don't want to, the march of time marches us on. He smiled and we passed each other, heading to different destinations even though we all eventually arrive at the same place...

He seemed to appear from nowhere and he looked like a work of art, the remains of colored tattered plastic bags were his bracelet, and his coat pulled together with a loop of another plastic bag.

When I first arrived in California in late 1984, the first thing that struck me was how many homeless lived in such a rich country. That's true for Gaultier's France these days, too. Last December in Paris, there were many sleeping on the streets above warm air grates.

I'm positive we'll eventually get to a solution. A YC startup will eventually make an app for it.

Here's another unfortunate soul, around the corner from the de Young:

Here's Gaultier's version of the "sidewalk."

More here:

Culture Watch: The Extraordinary World of Jean Paul Gaultier - at the de Young - SVW