JEAN PAUL GAULTIER
JEAN PAUL GAULTIER
The irrepressible Jean Paul Gaultier has been creating inclusive fashion since 1976. From growing up in the suburbs, his extraordinary destiny has seen him become one of the greatest couturiers in the world, without attending fashion school. Thanks to his audacity, talent, irreverence and humour, of course!
“I love to blend clothes, people, social classes, genres… and have fun with it“. Well before he said that, 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. Some may call it provocative, but he simply wants to show the world in all its diversity.
In 1996, after 20 years of ready-to-wear, Jean Paul Gaultier made his grand entrance into Haute Couture. The enfant terrible became the couturier terrible! He reinvented Haute Couture by putting exceptional French savoir-faire at the service of his obsession for combining different genres, cultures and materials. Jean Paul Gaultier’s motto is simple but ambitious, nothing is impossible! The ateliers then work their magic in bringing the designer’s ideas to life; some pieces require hundreds of hours of work and rare craftsmanship techniques to make. Since 2021, the fashion house has been inviting new designers to express their vision of the Jean Paul Gaultier world each season.
Of course, Jean Paul Gaultier has dressed some of the biggest names in pop culture. He’s even done some world tours! Not as a singer, but on account of his designs, having created stage outfits for legends such as Madonna, Mylène Farmer and Kylie Minogue. On the big screen, Jean Paul has also made his mark, creating crazy costumes for films by Pedro Almodóvar, Luc Besson and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. He’s received two Cesar nominations himself. And when Marion Cotillard collected her Oscar, she wore a mermaid dress by Jean Paul Gaultier! Today, a new generation of icons is joining the extended JPG family. Among them: Dua Lipa, Christine and the Queens, Lil Nas X, Kim Kardashian, Rosalía… welcome to the House of Gaultier!