Jean-Paul Gaultier

April 24, 1952

Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, France

By the time he was 13 years old, he had created a collection of clothing for his mother and grandmother, and by age 18 he had started an apprenticeship in the fashion house of Parisian designer Pierre Cardin. Following a one-year stint with Mr. Cardin, Jean-Paul Gaultier apprenticed successively with several other noted designers before he established his own label and debuted his first collection of women’s fashion in 1976. Mr. Gaultier began his ascent within the fashion world when he set up his own shop in 1982. He created a men’s collection in 1984, and two years later he opened his first boutique in Paris. Jean-Paul Gaultier was particularly noted for his consistency of style. Initially he favoured dark colours, especially red, brown, navy blue, deep purple, and black; later he lightened his palette through the addition of salmon, bronze, beige, and turquoise. Typical components of his collections included broad-shouldered jackets, textured or patterned stockings, trench coats of all sorts, baggy pants, flowing skirts, and the horizontally striped sailor’s shirts that became the signature of his style. Mr. Gaultier received most of his thematic inspiration from astrology, religious symbols, Celtic designs, calligraphy, tattoos, and regional apparel from around the world. His women’s collections, for instance, often incorporated masculine jackets, hats, and leather, and his menswear frequently featured such feminine elements as skirts, corsets, and gossamery fabric. Perhaps the most widely recognized of his hypersexual works are the conical bras that he created for American pop singer Madonna’s 1990 Blond Ambition tour. In 1993 Mr. Gaultier presented one of his most controversial culture-blending and gender-bending collections, "Chic Rabbis", based on Hasidic religious attire. In 1993 he expanded his product line to include perfumes - marketed in distinctive corset-shaped bottles - and accessories. It was the 1997 showing of his first haute couture collection, however, that secured his place in the fashion industry. In 2003, Mr. Gaultier succeeded Martin Margiela as the head designer at Hermès, and debuted his first haute-couture collection for autumn/winter 2004-2005. He teamed with Madonna again in 2006 to design the wardrobe for her Confessions tour, and in 2008 he similarly created costumes for Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue. Jean-Paul Gaultier became the latest designer to collaborate with US retail giant Target in May 2009 to produce an affordable line. In the same year, Mr. Gaultier ended his tenure at Hermès, with the spring/summer 2011 collection being his last for the house. He launched his first-ever swimwear collection, in collaboration with La Perla, in July 2011. In early 2012 he developed a collection based on the distinctive style of British pop singer Amy Winehouse - less than a year after her sudden death - that tested the boundary between homage and bad taste. Aside from his work with pop stars, Jean-Paul Gaultier designed costumes for a number of films, including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989), The Fifth Element (1997), and Bad Education (2004). In 2011 he launched his first international exhibition, "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk", in Montreal. The exhibition, which made its final North American stop in San Francisco the following year, was a 35-year retrospective featuring more than 100 of his works, many strikingly modeled by mannequins with "real" faces created through video projection. Jean-Paul Gaultier was appointed Diet Coke's new creative director in March 2012. His role involved providing creative input into company's advertising campaigns, retail events and new online projects, as well as designing limited-edition bottles. He followed in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld, Matthew Williamson, Gianfranco Ferre, Marni and Roberto Cavalli who had also created new bottle designs for Diet Coke. Up until 2014, he designed for three collections: his own couture and ready-to-wear lines, for both men and women. At the spring/summer 2015 show he announced that he was closing the ready-to-wear labels to focus on haute couture.

Jean-Paul Gaultier Edit Profile

fashion designer

Background

Mr. Gaultier was born in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, France, on April 24, 1952. Jean-Paul Gaultier grew up in the suburb of Paris. His mother was a clerk and his father an accountant. It was his maternal grandmother, Marie Garage, who introduced him to the world of fashion.

Education

Jean-Paul Gaultier never received formal training as a designer. Instead, he started sending sketches to famous couture stylists at an early age.

Career

By the time he was 13 years old, he had created a collection of clothing for his mother and grandmother, and by age 18 he had started an apprenticeship in the fashion house of Parisian designer Pierre Cardin. Following a one-year stint with Mr. Cardin, Jean-Paul Gaultier apprenticed successively with several other noted designers before he established his own label and debuted his first collection of women’s fashion in 1976.

Mr. Gaultier began his ascent within the fashion world when he set up his own shop in 1982. He created a men’s collection in 1984, and two years later he opened his first boutique in Paris. Jean-Paul Gaultier was particularly noted for his consistency of style. Initially he favoured dark colours, especially red, brown, navy blue, deep purple, and black; later he lightened his palette through the addition of salmon, bronze, beige, and turquoise. Typical components of his collections included broad-shouldered jackets, textured or patterned stockings, trench coats of all sorts, baggy pants, flowing skirts, and the horizontally striped sailor’s shirts that became the signature of his style. Mr. Gaultier received most of his thematic inspiration from astrology, religious symbols, Celtic designs, calligraphy, tattoos, and regional apparel from around the world.

His women’s collections, for instance, often incorporated masculine jackets, hats, and leather, and his menswear frequently featured such feminine elements as skirts, corsets, and gossamery fabric. Perhaps the most widely recognized of his hypersexual works are the conical bras that he created for American pop singer Madonna’s 1990 Blond Ambition tour. In 1993 Mr. Gaultier presented one of his most controversial culture-blending and gender-bending collections, "Chic Rabbis", based on Hasidic religious attire. In 1993 he expanded his product line to include perfumes - marketed in distinctive corset-shaped bottles - and accessories. It was the 1997 showing of his first haute couture collection, however, that secured his place in the fashion industry.

In 2003, Mr. Gaultier succeeded Martin Margiela as the head designer at Hermès, and debuted his first haute-couture collection for autumn/winter 2004-2005. He teamed with Madonna again in 2006 to design the wardrobe for her Confessions tour, and in 2008 he similarly created costumes for Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue. Jean-Paul Gaultier became the latest designer to collaborate with US retail giant Target in May 2009 to produce an affordable line. In the same year, Mr. Gaultier ended his tenure at Hermès, with the spring/summer 2011 collection being his last for the house. He launched his first-ever swimwear collection, in collaboration with La Perla, in July 2011. In early 2012 he developed a collection based on the distinctive style of British pop singer Amy Winehouse - less than a year after her sudden death - that tested the boundary between homage and bad taste.

Aside from his work with pop stars, Jean-Paul Gaultier designed costumes for a number of films, including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989), The Fifth Element (1997), and Bad Education (2004). In 2011 he launched his first international exhibition, "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk", in Montreal. The exhibition, which made its final North American stop in San Francisco the following year, was a 35-year retrospective featuring more than 100 of his works, many strikingly modeled by mannequins with "real" faces created through video projection.

Jean-Paul Gaultier was appointed Diet Coke's new creative director in March 2012. His role involved providing creative input into company's advertising campaigns, retail events and new online projects, as well as designing limited-edition bottles. He followed in the footsteps of Karl Lagerfeld, Matthew Williamson, Gianfranco Ferre, Marni and Roberto Cavalli who had also created new bottle designs for Diet Coke.

Up until 2014, he designed for three collections: his own couture and ready-to-wear lines, for both men and women. At the spring/summer 2015 show he announced that he was closing the ready-to-wear labels to focus on haute couture.

Achievements

Jean-Paul Gaultier is one of fashion's most innovative and creative designers. He has become a favorite for many celebrities, including Naomi Watts, Marion Cotillard, and Nicole Kidman, Marilyn Manson, Mylène Farmer, Lady Gaga etc.

In July 2001, the designer was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. It was announced in March 2010 that he would receive an Inspiration Award for his lifetime contribution to men's fashion and the fight against AIDS. He collected the prize at the AmfAR awards in New York on June 3. In 2012, he was named as a member of the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This was the first time a fashion designer was called to sit on a jury at the festival.

Works

A bustier-style dress made of grass that is woven to resemble feathers A bustier-style dress made of grass that is woven to resemble feathers

An iconoclastic white lace design combining a halo and mask similar to fetish bondage-wear An iconoclastic white lace design combining a halo and mask similar to fetish bondage-wear

$Gaultier\'s notoriety increased in the 1980s with several cone-breasted designs, similar to one worn on tour by Madonna Gaultier\'s notoriety increased in the 1980s with several cone-breasted designs, similar to one worn on tour by Madonna$ $Designs resembling the human muscle and circulatory systems worn by Myl\u00E8ne Farmer (left) and torsolette, or merry widow undergarments (right) Designs resembling the human muscle and circulatory systems worn by Myl\u00E8ne Farmer (left) and torsolette, or merry widow undergarments (right)$ Blond Ambition Tour costume sketch by Jean Paul Gaultier Blond Ambition Tour costume sketch by Jean Paul Gaultier

Blond Ambition Tour costume sketch by Jean Paul Gaultier Blond Ambition Tour costume sketch by Jean Paul Gaultier

$Jean Paul Gaultier costume sketches for Madonna\'s Blond Ambition Jean Paul Gaultier costume sketches for Madonna\'s Blond Ambition$ Jean Paul Gaultier for Kylie Minogue Jean Paul Gaultier for Kylie Minogue

Jean Paul Gaultier for Kylie Minogue Jean Paul Gaultier for Kylie Minogue

$Sketch of Madonna\'s stage costumes for her Blond Ambition World Tour Sketch of Madonna\'s stage costumes for her Blond Ambition World Tour$ $Sketch for Madonna\'s costume Sketch for Madonna\'s costume$

book
- Pain Couture
- Kylie Fashion
design
- A bustier-style dress made of grass that is woven to resemble feathers
- An iconoclastic white lace design combining a halo and mask similar to fetish bondage-wear
- Gaultier's notoriety increased in the 1980s with several cone-breasted designs, similar to one worn on tour by Madonna
- Designs resembling the human muscle and circulatory systems worn by Mylène Farmer (left) and torsolette, or merry widow undergarments (right)
- Blond Ambition Tour costume sketch by Jean Paul Gaultier
- Jean Paul Gaultier costume sketches for Madonna's Blond Ambition
- Jean Paul Gaultier for Kylie Minogue
- Sketch of Madonna's stage costumes for her Blond Ambition World Tour
- Sketch for Madonna's costume

Views

Quotations: "I would like to say to people, open your eyes and find beauty where you normally don't expect it."

"I don't like dreams or reality. I like when dreams become reality because that is my life."

"I take life as it happens. And I give myself a lot of freedom."

"People are so codified - it's sad."

"I am very lucky because I am realizing my childhood dreams, and after presenting my shows it's like a party."

"Elegance is a question of personality, more than one's clothing."

"I could say that making clothes is my way of communicating because I was always so shy."

"Designers are to be in connection with what's happening with the movement of society."

"It is beautiful to be what you are."

Interests

cinema

Connections

Jean-Paul Gaultier was in relationships with his business partner Francis Menuge, the man he described as the love of his life, from 1975 to 1990.

grandmother:: Marie Garage
Partner:: Francis Menuge

Main Photo