It has a particular charm, which remembers that of the English actor Daniel Craig from afar. But for the world, the charm of Jean Paul Gaultier is mainly contained in his creations which – despite being “for everyone” – have a class that clearly distinguishes them.
Jean Paul Gaultier is not only a famous French designer , he is also a creative in every dimension.
His luck was the environment in which he grew up, the lack of studies that made him curious, the desire to make himself known that makes him enterprising even now that his name is a successful brand .
Symbol of a different France, modern while remaining classic, and managed to be loved all over the world, thanks also to those who believed in him from the beginning.
In this post and dedicated to famous stylists , we talk about Jean Paul Gaultier, the French designer who retired a little while ago: let’s see together the main professional steps.
The Enfant Terrible of fashion in our latest post dedicated to stylists: happy reading everyone!
From the Parisian suburbs to Pierre Cardin
Jean Paul Gaultier was born in the Parisian suburbs, more specifically in Arcueil, on April 24, 1952 .
He grew up in a working-class family, often entrusted to his grandmother – a great lover of fashion catalogs.
The young Jean Paul started drawing by copying those models from his grandmother’s newspapers and created his first ideas as a stylist in his own home.
He has never attended a fashion school or a style design course, he has only limited himself to sending his ideas to the great Parisian fashion houses. A risk, because someone could easily steal her inventions. And instead luckily these have fallen into the right hands: those of Pierre Cardin, who decides to hire that unknown boy among his assistants.
Barely twenty years old, Jean Paul Gaultier becomes head of a Cardin atelier in the Philippines, in the capital Manila, after having previously gained experience at other French fashion houses, such as Maison Patou and Esterel, before returning to Cardin again.
The success of the “terrible boy” of French fashion
After six years of apprenticeship around the world, guided by Cardin’s wisdom, Jean Paul proposes his very first fashion collection in 1974 . He is only 22 years old but amazes and immediately conquers the market. They call him enfant terrible , “the terrible kid”, because you immediately realize that he will become a great name.
Initially his style is inspired by street wear , “street” fashion, casual suitable for everyone. But since 1981 she has been engaging in haute couture , creating highly elegant clothes not only for women but also for men.
And the appreciation for the quality of his work is never enough, so much so that he also decides to shock the world with original ideas: for example, bringing elderly or handicapped people to the catwalk.
His artistic collaboration with the singer Madonna is very interesting : in fact it is he who dresses the American singer on his tours and his provocative and rebellious clothes go around the world projecting Jean Paul in the Olympus of the greatest French designers of all time.
His collections are aggressive, original, masculine and feminine at the same time (great is the idea of dressing the models with transparent tutus under fisherman’s sweaters, or the use of Scottish kilts in their fashion collections. Art and creativity and him in the fashion world it has never ceased to amaze.
He also takes care of the stage clothes of some films, such as Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element , and over the years he has also dressed the singer Kylie Minogue, with the same irreverence with which he produced the clothes for his colleague Madonna.
Not just fashion: perfumes, books, music and TV programs
Jean Paul Gaultier never stops. In addition to curating his own collections, he becomes the curator of other brands, such as Hermes, and also deals with creative writing by publishing books that are not necessarily fashion-themed.
He also became the protagonist of a record production, with a dance music disc entitled How to do that which would become an album with the participation of other artists.
He has conducted television programs in France, curated exhibitions in various museums around the world, produced and launched a line of perfumes, called Jean Paul Gaultier le male (which became one of the best sellers in the world) and Jean Paul Gaultier scandal , which soon became iconic fragrances. .
She chose to retire just a few months ago, with her latest fashion show , also a success, at Paris Fashion Week, and decided to do so at the very peak of her success, leaving the catwalks as a protagonist. But that doesn’t mean you will stop producing ideas. In fact she leaves the audience with a promise:
“The maison continues with a new project of which I am the inspiration and which will be revealed to you shortly”.
So we will soon hear more of Jean Paul Gaultier very soon.
