Jean Paul Gaultier

Luxury fashion brand Jean Paul Gaultier captivated the most discerning fashion editor, buyers and consumers with his iconoclastic haute couture collections. In 2014- however- Gaultier shut his ready-to-wear and menswear lines to concentrate on couture.

Despite no formal training in fashion design, Gaultier was hired by Pierre Cardin who was impressed by his sketches. That was the eighteen year old's foundation of a long prolific career in fashion. He later worked with Jacques Esterel and Jane Patou. In 1976, Gaultier's boyfriend Francis Menuge encouraged him to launch his own ready-to-wear brand. Scraping together some money, Gaultier made his debut at a planetarium in Paris where nine models wore garments made using unorthodox material like braided straw, canvas and upholstery fabric. Grafting unlikely components into popular silhouettes, it was a marriage of classicism and rebellion. That spirit has guided his work ever since. 

Some of his earliest designs include tattoo skins i.e. long-sleeved stretch-nylon tops printed with roses, pierced hearts and tribal art. That said, he was just as interested in the traditional such as the trench — albeit with his own spin. Like the red satin trench or the trench- inspired dress! And- while reinventing aesthetic design codes- he always advised people to dress in their own unique style.

In 1987 Gaultier launched his haute couture collection drawing inspiration from divergent cultures. He quickly discovered he loved the creative freedom of couture. Imagine bullfighters' boleros, rabbis' shtreimels, Mongolian gilets, flamenco skirts and African masks astride corsets, leather and vinyl. It was owing to this sheer creativity that Hermès hired Gaultier as Creative Director and took a thirty percent stake in the Jean Paul Gaultier brand, which later increased to forty-five percent. Gaultier remained at Hermès for seven years… exiting in 2010 to concentrate on his own label. Shortly, he announced he would close down his ready- to- wear line to focus on haute couture, fragrance and collaborations in costume design and interiors.

Embracing the viewpoint of being different in a multicultural society… luxury label Jean Paul Gaultier shook up aesthetic codes. "I love to blend clothes, people, social classes, genres... and have fun with it". Per his official website: "Jean Paul Gaultier made inclusivity, diversity and the mixing of genres the uplifting pillars of his world. A world in which people of every colour, shape and identity are celebrated! For Jean Paul, this vision of the world is more than political, it’s natural, celebratory."

Jean Paul Gaultier takes great pleasure in mixing and shaking things up! With innovation and powerhouse creativity laced with his core principles of inclusivity and diversity… Gaultier put his staff on the catwalk as well as friends and neighbours.. fashion editors and people scouted in the street. His eye comes to rest with equal freedom on objects he can have some fun transforming: latex, fishnet and harness associated with sadomasochism were brought from sex shops to the catwalk!! His sleek provocative style left an indelible mark on Fashion history. Two highlights characterise his body of work — the corset and the man skirt. Rummaging in his grandma's wardrobe, he found twentieth century corsets which he redesigned as a tightly-laced corset to make women feel sexy, liberated and empowered. Gaultier is also renowned for the man-skirt which he first showed in his collection: Boy Toy. In the eye of a storm.. he said he had no intention of being provocative and that he was inspired by waiters' long aprons, togas and kilts… and by one of his male models who had come for his fitting in a sarong. 

An exhibit in Costume Institute of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art- Braveheart: Men in Skirts- showed designs by Gaultier, Dries van Noten, Vivienne Westwood and Rudi Gernreich to examine "designers and individuals who have appropriated the skirt as a means of injecting novelty into male fashion.. as a means of transgressing moral and social codes.. and as a means of redefining an ideal masculinity." Gaultier's choice of models was also an effort to blur boundaries. In the Seventies, fashion was ruled by tall skinny blondes but he chose multi- cultural unconventional models.

By the mid-eighties, Gaultier dressed Annie Girardot, Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé — and Madonna who asked him to design 358 costumes for her "Blond Ambition Tour." In particular- the pink corset bodysuit with conical cups which she wore with black men's pants became one of the most iconic imagery of the era! These alliances were illustrative of his astute business acumen. Gaultier collaborated with Diet Coke and co-created television show "Eurotrash". In 2019, New York street wear brand Supreme worked with him to present a collection of spray-painted denim jackets, faux-fur plaid coats in bright colours, reversible jackets with a detachable backpack, sneakers with floral prints and pinstripe suits. Marrying street wear with high fashion… the collection sold out!!

In 1993, Jean Paul Gaultier created his first fragrance: Classique. Its masculine alter ego- Le Male- became one of the best-selling fragrances in the world. This obsession with sensual accords has become synonymous with the House of Gaultier, which continues to create fragrances with appeal. From Scandal to La Belle and Le Beau.. his creativity is unparalleled.

His most recent showing at Paris Haute Couture Week 2023 was on point and a potential sell-out judging by the guests' response. Per Vogue: “Dossena was re-making his richly eclectic point in a week when the social and racial divisions in Paris have again broken out into rioting. His own symbol of equality-in-diversity amongst his characters of Paris was crowning them with diadems and jewelled circlets ”as if they’d found them on the market." Some of them were wearing haute couture versions of laurel wreaths—also seen around Paris." Following this show, the legendary fashion designer has retired. 

To encourage individuality and inclusivity with his mostly- eccentric design aesthetic that have made his creations the darling of the global A-list set including pop star Madonna! His vision board is ambitious: nothing is impossible. Through the years… he has taken the most unfathomable inspirations from bull mascots' ponchos to waiters' apron, his grandmother's corset and waiter's aprons to design cult formalwear with his own spin. The atelier then brings the designer's ideas to life even though some of the pieces require hundreds of hours of work and rare craftsmanship techniques. 

Jean Paul Gaultier has always envisioned inclusivity and individuality from the first day of his prolific career in Fashion. "I love to blend clothes, people, social classes, genres... and have fun with it". Per a statement on his official website: Jean Paul Gaultier made inclusivity, diversity and the mixing of genres the uplifting pillars of his world. A world in which people of every colour, shape and identity are celebrated! For Jean Paul this vision of the world is more than political.. it's natural, celebratory.

Jean Paul Gaultier originally designed haute couture- ready to wear- and menswear but recently shut the latter to focus only on his couture collections and fragrance line.