Jean Paul Gaultier was born on 24th April 1952 in Arcueil, a Southern suburb of Paris in Val-de-Marne, France. Known for his avant-garde designs within his Haute Couture and Ready-to-Wear collections; Gaultier is a legendary fashion rebel who has helped to revitalise the industry and change its way of thinking.
Gaultier’s unconventional fashion beginnings started as a teenager who never had any formal training but used to send sketches of his ideas to renowned couture designers. It was fashion legend Pierre Cardin that became impressed by what he had received and despite Gaultier’s lack of experience, took him on as an assistant at 18 years of age. Over the next few years, Gaultier moved around working with other designers and by 1974 returned to Cardin, taking a position at his Manila boutique.
By 1976, the ambitious Gaultier opened his own couture house and released his very first collection in women’s designer fashion. He then began to really establish his ‘enfant terrible’ persona in his flamboyant attitude and his playful nature through his collections. It was designers like Gaultier, with his ostentatious style that made the media stand up and pay attention both in the fashion realms and in the national press as they were enthralled by his innovation, tailoring skills and audacious designs. This also caught the eye of bold performers, such as Madonna, making Gaultier responsible for many of her famous eccentric yet glitzy costumes such as the gold cone bra, for her Blond Ambition and Confessions tours. Since then, Gaultier has designed for many artist’s stage performances including goth rocker Marilyn Manson, French best-selling singer Mylène Farmer, iconic Cantopop pioneer Leslie Cheung and showgirl diva Kylie Minogue, plus he has produced the wardrobe for several international movies including Luc Besson's The Fifth Element.
His love of fashion was evident and only paralleled by his non-conformist penchant to shock, especially when it came to his choice of models. At a time when the supermodel was strutting her slender-toned and elegant stuff, Gaultier employed models that were over-sized, transgender, of much older age or covered in body art. He was determined to step outside of the box and drag the fashion industry kicking and screaming out of its comfort zone and a perfect example was 1985’s brazen introduction of the man-skirt. A now trademark item for Gaultier that led to his promotion of men’s kilts and his celebrated New York exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled ‘Bravehearts - Men in Skirts’. It also prompted a further collaboration with Austrian company Wolford with their hosiery and lingerie.
His creativity was highly celebrated but it was his Haute Couture line that gained him the most respect in the industry as it expressed his inner elegance alongside his impish charm and firmly caught the attention of Hermès, who hired Gaultier as a Creative Director from 2003 to 2010. He also became a renowned designer in the realms of fur fashion; a champion of the material and master manipulator to create new, lighter lines and showcase his ostentation through new dyes, putting paid to then out-dated views on fur fashions and ensuring that fur stay an exciting part of his collections.
Over the decades, Gaultier has branched out into many different arenas, as a presenter on the pop culture TV series Eurotrash and even releasing a dance track at the end of the 80’s. He also extended his collections to Ready-to-Wear that included an edgy street vibe and he put his name to an extremely successful perfume and cologne line. His glorious fashion domain now includes labels Jean Paul Gaultier, Eyewear Jean Paul Gaultier Gaultier PARIS, Jean Paul Gaultier Argent, JPG by Gaultier and a new Junior Gaultier baby line for 2011. He also has three main collections shown on the catwalks of Haute Couture and Ready-to-Wear lines f
Gaultier’s unconventional fashion beginnings started as a teenager who never had any formal training but used to send sketches of his ideas to renowned couture designers. It was fashion legend Pierre Cardin that became impressed by what he had received and despite Gaultier’s lack of experience, took him on as an assistant at 18 years of age. Over the next few years, Gaultier moved around working with other designers and by 1974 returned to Cardin, taking a position at his Manila boutique.
By 1976, the ambitious Gaultier opened his own couture house and released his very first collection in women’s designer fashion. He then began to really establish his ‘enfant terrible’ persona in his flamboyant attitude and his playful nature through his collections. It was designers like Gaultier, with his ostentatious style that made the media stand up and pay attention both in the fashion realms and in the national press as they were enthralled by his innovation, tailoring skills and audacious designs. This also caught the eye of bold performers, such as Madonna, making Gaultier responsible for many of her famous eccentric yet glitzy costumes such as the gold cone bra, for her Blond Ambition and Confessions tours. Since then, Gaultier has designed for many artist’s stage performances including goth rocker Marilyn Manson, French best-selling singer Mylène Farmer, iconic Cantopop pioneer Leslie Cheung and showgirl diva Kylie Minogue, plus he has produced the wardrobe for several international movies including Luc Besson's The Fifth Element.
His love of fashion was evident and only paralleled by his non-conformist penchant to shock, especially when it came to his choice of models. At a time when the supermodel was strutting her slender-toned and elegant stuff, Gaultier employed models that were over-sized, transgender, of much older age or covered in body art. He was determined to step outside of the box and drag the fashion industry kicking and screaming out of its comfort zone and a perfect example was 1985’s brazen introduction of the man-skirt. A now trademark item for Gaultier that led to his promotion of men’s kilts and his celebrated New York exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled ‘Bravehearts - Men in Skirts’. It also prompted a further collaboration with Austrian company Wolford with their hosiery and lingerie.
His creativity was highly celebrated but it was his Haute Couture line that gained him the most respect in the industry as it expressed his inner elegance alongside his impish charm and firmly caught the attention of Hermès, who hired Gaultier as a Creative Director from 2003 to 2010. He also became a renowned designer in the realms of fur fashion; a champion of the material and master manipulator to create new, lighter lines and showcase his ostentation through new dyes, putting paid to then out-dated views on fur fashions and ensuring that fur stay an exciting part of his collections.
Over the decades, Gaultier has branched out into many different arenas, as a presenter on the pop culture TV series Eurotrash and even releasing a dance track at the end of the 80’s. He also extended his collections to Ready-to-Wear that included an edgy street vibe and he put his name to an extremely successful perfume and cologne line. His glorious fashion domain now includes labels Jean Paul Gaultier, Eyewear Jean Paul Gaultier Gaultier PARIS, Jean Paul Gaultier Argent, JPG by Gaultier and a new Junior Gaultier baby line for 2011. He also has three main collections shown on the catwalks of Haute Couture and Ready-to-Wear lines f
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