Jean Paul Gaultier is the face of the brand. Great fashion designers. Jean-Paul Gaultier

12.05.2019

(French Jean-Paul Gaultier) - French . Founder and head of his own fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier S.A. His work determined the image throughout the 80-90s of the last century.

Biography and creativity

Jean-Paul Gaultier was born in the suburbs of Paris on April 24, 1952. The world of fashion attracted him from an early age. As a child, he could leaf through magazines for hours on end, while carefully peering into each picture and trying to remember it. The boy was raised by his grandmother, who allowed him to watch TV all day. From what he saw, little Gaultier drew his first design inspiration, which poured into stylish costumes for a teddy bear. The child dressed the toy model either in a space suit or in a bride's dress. When Gaultier becomes a designer, he will continue to look for inspiration in visual images: television, painting, cinema, and simply in the guises of casual passers-by.

At first, Jean-Paul seriously decided to become a hairdresser. But, when he was 18 years old, he sent his sketches to the famous Pierre Cardin... The designer really liked the work of the newcomer, and he offered the young man the place of his assistant. This was in 1970. Just a year later, he became Michel Goma's assistant at the Jean Patou House, then left for Angelo Tarlazzi.

1974-1975 - Gaultier develops PIERRE CARDIN collections for the US market.

1976 Jean-Paul opens his own clothing company. His partners are two school friends. Fransis Menuge was named director of the company, a position he held until 1990, this year he died of AIDS. The second companion was Donald Potar. He took over the business after a friend's death.

At that time, aspiring entrepreneurs had almost no money. They created the first collection from “scrap materials”. It consisted, for example, of small dresses made of napkins or tea strainers and batteries. From this collection, Gauthier's corporate style began to take shape, based on a mixture of genres and bold experiments with materials. In his subsequent work, he will often be engaged in the transformation of familiar things. During the demonstration of the first collection, the hall was almost empty. It turned out that at the same time there was a show of some famous designer who gathered the entire Parisian public.

Since then, Gaultier has decided never to go unnoticed again. And he did it superbly. He strove, by all means, to shock the audience. Gaultier chose the most unexpected places for his shows, for example, a boxing ring or a museum of old carousels, a former prison building or a tram depot. He also had different models: dwarfs, old people or fat women.

“I strive to avoid sclerotic clichés, stereotypical behavior of professional fashion models. My models do not entertain the audience, but show clothes that anyone can wear, ”said the designer.

Since 1989 Jean-Paul Gaultier has been designing costumes for cinematography. His first project was Peter Greenaway's The Chef, Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. It was followed by the film Kika by the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. In 1997, Gaultier designed the outfit for Luc Besson's The Fifth Element.

The first youth the collection of the brand "Junior Gaultier" was released in 1988... And the first denim collection was in 1992.

The beginning of the 90s was marked by a special riot of grotesque in the collections of Gaultier. He played the cowboy style in a parody manner, created hats in the form of kitchen utensils and musical instruments. Jean-Paul invented sheer bodysuits and brought female aliens with shaved heads to the catwalk on a huge platform.

The designer has always paid great attention to his own. It was another attention grabber. He was easily recognizable by his bleached hair, vest and boots. Not only he himself wore a vest, he was wearing a men's perfume and many haute couture collections repeated this motive.

Jean-Paul Gaultier became a real pop star in the 90s. He was a presenter on television, recorded discs and was fond of photography.

Since 1993, the designer's passion for ethnic themes begins. The Rabbi Shik collection was inspired by images of Hasidic rabbis whom he accidentally saw on the streets of New York. So in his arsenal there were dark clothes to the floor, outside, and small hats. The 1994 collection "Tatu" had a huge impact on youth fashion of the last decade of the century, and it was based on the costumes of Africa and Southeast Asia. On clothes, drawings appeared in the form of tattoos, reminiscent of banknotes and graffiti motifs. Ethnic silver jewelry and piercings were insanely popular in the 90s - these ideas also belonged to Gaultier.

The collection "Mongols" from 1994-1995 continued the theme of ethnic costume. In 1995, the “End of the Century” collection was released, in which Gaultier turned to the clothes of the outgoing century.

1997 - Jean-Paul Gaultier begins to develop full-fledged collections "". Although earlier he spoke negatively about high fashion, and stated that he was not interested in it. In his opinion, it was a fashion that "smelled of mothballs." However, his collection "Gaultier-Paris" is released. It was men's and women's clothing that parodied haute couture traditions with extraordinary talent.

In 1999, Gauthier's company sells 35% of its shares to the company ""... This gives the fashion designer a material basis for the subsequent expansion of his business.

In the 2000s, Jean-Paul Gaultier was no longer a rebel, but a classic of French fashion. The designer said that the main thing in clothes for him is conformity to the times and democracy. Both features were characteristic of all of Gaultier's creations, from jeans to evening dresses.

Today, the experience and knowledge of the master have been added to the originality of the ideas of the genius of fashion. His products are distinguished by perfect cut and masterly handling of materials.

Jean-Paul Gaultier was often called "the most brilliant designer of the late twentieth century." His work ideally corresponded to the postmodern era. The surrounding reality seems to be mixed in his models into some unimaginable cocktail of style.

Amanda Lear's interview with Jean-Paul Gaultier for Interview magazine (2012)

A.L .: Not long ago you turned 60. Of course, I don’t know how it feels, but they say that it’s great. What advice would you give yourself to a 25 year old?
Zh-P.G .: I wouldn't give myself any advice. I'm happy with the way things turned out.

A.L .:And don't you miss your youth at all?
Zh-P.G .: I started at 18 with Pierre Cardin. Everything was great with him, because he, like me, is a fan of experimenting, and he does not care about any rules. He could easily say: "I want a shoe, like this chair." I didn’t study fashion, so I didn’t follow any rules. My taste was influenced by fashion magazines and rock stars of my generation: David Bowie, Mick Jagger, the Beatles. By the way, it was a very important moment in men's fashion. Then the guys ceased to be ashamed to look feminine: they wore shirts with frills and painted themselves. And all this was close to me. So we worked well with Cardin.

A.L .:Was it so easy for you to work with everyone?
Zh-P.G .: I would not say. With my next boss, Jean Patou, it was much more complicated. I think he hurt my psyche. I wore riding boots and my staff laughed at me asking where I left my horse. Almost every day they tried to convince me that beige is the most luxurious color, and it is absolutely impossible to hire dark-skinned models for a show. All of this did not fit with my own ideas about fashion. I love mixing. But at my first show, I had a real blast. I remember that the French newspapers then wrote that I was doing "God knows what", but in England, on the contrary, they understood me. During my trip to London, I felt free. But what am I telling you, you yourself know everything, you lived there.

Jean-Paul Gaultier interview for Hybebeast.com (June 2011)

H: — Please accept my belated congratulations on your last birthday! How was the celebration?
W-PG:- Thanks. At the moment I'm on a special cleansing diet so I didn't even have to taste the birthday cake, just a tiny bit.

H: — What is your most memorable birthday?
W-PG:- Usually I do not make a big hype around my birthday. This is too personal and intimate an event. However, on my 50th birthday, I threw a real party and came to it in a woman's dress.

H: — This year, you also celebrate 35 years since your first screening. You are in the profession for four decades, however, despite this, each of your shows looks very fresh. How do you do it?
W-PG:- I have never faced such a problem as lack of inspiration. On the contrary, sometimes I have too much of it. Sometimes I want everything at once. I can draw inspiration from anywhere: from film, music or theater.

H:— You built your brand, Jean Paul Gaultier, in a way that no one else had paid attention to: you explored the standards of the ready-to-wear market with a life-changing approach. You looked at fashion from a 360-degree perspective, turning back to household items, baby clothes and cosmetics. Did you learn about this method at the age of 18 from your teacher Pierre Cardin?
W-PG:- No, from Mr. Cardin I learned about freedom. Absolute freedom reigned in his studio. I could bring him a sketch of a costume, and he said in response: "Fine, but now make me furniture out of this." I worked with him in 1970, and he had just opened a theater, where he also held his shows. He had assistants from all over the world. It was there, thanks to colleagues from the Land of the Rising Sun, that I first got acquainted with Japanese cuisine. It was a great time that taught me that if you want to be successful at something, you must have a certain level of freedom.

H: — Tell us about your working relationship with Madonna in the 80s and 90s. How did you come up with the idea for a tapered bra?
W-PG:- For the first time I saw Madonna when she was already at the peak of her popularity. She sang the song "Holiday" and she had an incredible image (I even thought she was English, she was so elegant). She was wearing about the same things that I myself did at that time: crosses, large jewelry and fishing nets. The second time I saw her live at the MTV Awards in New York on the stage of Radio City. This was probably the year 1984. She sang the song "Like A Virgin" while wearing a wedding dress. In the course of the song, Madonna imitated, let's call it a euphemism, self-satisfaction. The audience in the hall, consisting mainly of business people, was simply shocked. Among those who came there were only a few young fans of the singer, and I am among them who really appreciated this spectacle. It was then that I realized how little she cares about what other people think of her, and how strong this woman is. I became a real fan of her: I liked her songs and the way she looks. I loved her because she herself chose where and how to appear.
When I saw her first concert in Paris, I decided that she simply had to turn to me for a stage costume. It seemed to me that I could do it much better than her current designer. So when two years later, right before the prêt-a-porter show, my PR manager said that I should call Madonna, I thought he was kidding me. However, three days later, I still decided to check it out and called the number that was given to me. Madonna herself answered the phone. “Hi Gaultier,” she said. The Blonde Ambition tour was a real platform for fruitful cooperation and friendship for us. She was not at all frightened by my ideas, so that our vision was quite harmonious and could boast of a rare symbiosis.

H: — You have often made costumes for films ranging from The Fifth Element to City of Lost Children. Is this work any different from the preparation of regular prêt-a-porter collections?
W-PG:- When I am preparing for my own show, I am my own director, and I do as I want. My opinion remains decisive in absolutely everything. When I work for cinema, someone else is the director, so I have to adapt to his needs. I have just returned from Cannes, where I attended the premiere of Pedro Almodovar's new film "The Skin I Live In". This is our third joint project, and I really enjoy working with it. He always knows exactly what he wants. I love working with cinema as it is a good way to express myself in a different way.

Official site: www.jeanpaulgaultier.com

One of the most shocking creations of Gaultier was a corset with a pointed bra, created for the world tour of the singer Madonna in 1990. The designer has also created stage costumes for singer Marilyn Manson, 1998 and 2014 Eurovision Song Contest winners Dana International and Conchita Wurst (the latter also wore a "bridesmaid dress" in the Fall / Winter 2014-2015 show).

Gaultier designed costumes for films, collaborating with directors such as Pedro Almodovar (Kika), Peter Greenway (Chef, Thief, His Wife and Her Lover), Luc Besson (The Fifth Element), Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Mark Caro (City of Lost Children).

In 1993 he launched his own perfume line. In 2003 he became the creative director of the Parisian fashion house Hermès... In the same year Hermès acquired 30% of the company Jean Paul Gaultier S.A., and a few years later increased its share in the Gaultier firm to 45%. After seven years of work in Hermès Gaultier left this fashion house in May 2010, deciding to focus on his own business. In the leadership position, he was replaced by Christophe Lemaire, who had previously developed a line of women's clothing in Hermès, and even earlier - who held the post of chief designer of the company Lacoste.

In March 2005, the Moscow boutique Jean Paul Gaultier was opened in Petrovsky Passage.

On July 21, 2010 Jean-Paul Gaultier was named president of his own fashion house and company. Jean Paul Gaultier S.A.

Perfumes under the name of the designer are produced by a Spanish company Puig, the majority shareholder of the Gaultier fashion house.

Charity

In 2003, he sponsored the Men in Skirts exhibition at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. (unavailable link)

In 2016, he created designs for more than 500 costumes for THE ONE Grand Show in Berlin's Friedrichstadt-Palast.

Recognition and awards

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Excerpt from Gaultier, Jean-Paul

The war was flaring up, and its theater was approaching the Russian borders. The curses to the enemy of the human race, Bonaparte, were heard everywhere; warriors and recruits gathered in the villages, and contradictory news came from the theater of war, as always false and therefore differently interpreted.
The life of the old prince Bolkonsky, prince Andrei and princess Marya has changed in many ways since 1805.
In 1806, the old prince was appointed one of the eight commander-in-chief of the militia, then appointed throughout Russia. The old prince, despite his senile weakness, which became especially noticeable at the time when he considered his son killed, did not consider himself entitled to resign from the position to which he had been determined by the sovereign himself, and this newly opened activity to him excited and strengthened him. He constantly traveled to the three provinces entrusted to him; he was meticulous in his duties, strict to the point of cruelty with his subordinates, and he himself went to the smallest details of the case. Princess Marya had already ceased to take mathematics lessons from her father, and only in the morning, accompanied by a nurse, with little Prince Nikolai (as his grandfather called him) entered his father's study when he was at home. Chest Prince Nikolai lived with the nurse and nanny Savishna in the half of the late princess, and Princess Marya spent most of the day in the nursery, replacing, as best she could, her mother for her little nephew. M lle Bourienne, too, seemed to be passionately in love with the boy, and Princess Mary, often depriving herself, yielded to her friend the pleasure of nursing the little angel (as she called her nephew) and playing with him.
At the altar of the Lysogorsk church there was a chapel over the grave of the little princess, and a marble monument brought from Italy was erected in the chapel depicting an angel spreading his wings and preparing to rise to heaven. The angel's upper lip was slightly raised, as if he was about to smile, and once Prince Andrey and Princess Marya, leaving the chapel, confessed to each other that it was strange, the face of this angel reminded them of the face of the deceased. But what was even stranger, and what Prince Andrew did not tell his sister, was that in the expression that the artist accidentally gave to the face of an angel, Prince Andrew read the same words of meek reproach that he read then on the face of his dead wife: “Oh, why did you do this to me? ... "
Soon after the return of Prince Andrey, the old prince separated his son and gave him Bogucharovo, a large estate located 40 miles from the Bald Mountains. Partly because of the difficult memories associated with Bald Hills, partly because Prince Andrey did not always feel able to endure his father's character, partly because he needed solitude, Prince Andrey took advantage of Bogucharov, built there and spent most of time.
Prince Andrew, after the Austerlitz campaign, firmly decided never to serve again in military service; and when the war began, and everyone had to serve, he, in order to get rid of active service, took a position under the command of his father in collecting the militia. The old prince and his son seemed to have changed roles after the 1805 campaign. The old prince, excited by activity, expected all the best from this campaign; Prince Andrew, on the contrary, not participating in the war and secretly regretting that, saw one bad thing.
On February 26, 1807, the old prince left for the district. Prince Andrew, as for the most part during his father's absences, remained in Bald Hills. Little Nikolushka was unwell for the 4th day. The coachmen who drove the old prince returned from the city and brought papers and letters to Prince Andrei.
The valet with letters, not finding the young prince in his study, walked halfway through Princess Marya; but he was not there either. The valet was told that the prince had gone to the nursery.
“Please, your Excellency, Petrusha has come with the papers,” said one of the girls of the nanny’s assistants, addressing Prince Andrei, who was sitting on a small children's chair and, with trembling hands, frowning, dripped medicine from a bottle into a glass half filled with water.
- What? - he said angrily, and inadvertently trembling with his hand, poured an extra amount of drops from the glass into the glass. He threw the medicine out of the glass on the floor and again asked for water. The girl handed it to him.
In the room there was a cot, two chests, two armchairs, a table and a children's table and a high chair, the one on which Prince Andrey was sitting. The windows were hung, and a single candle burned on the table, filled with a bound music book so that no light fell on the crib.
“My friend,” Princess Marya said, addressing her brother from the crib she was standing at, “it's better to wait ... after ...
“Oh, please, you’re still talking nonsense, you’ve been waiting for everything, so you’ve waited,” said Prince Andrei in an embittered whisper, apparently wanting to prick his sister.
“My friend, it’s better not to wake him up, he fell asleep,” the princess said in an imploring voice.
Prince Andrey got up and, on tiptoe, with a glass, went to the bed.
- Or definitely not wake up? He said hesitantly.
“As you wish — right… I think… but as you wish,” said Princess Marya, apparently shy and ashamed that her opinion had triumphed. She pointed out to her brother the girl who had summoned him in a whisper.
It was the second night that they both did not sleep, caring for the boy who was burning in the heat. All these days, not trusting their home doctor and waiting for the one for whom they were sent to the city, they tried this or that remedy. Exhausted by sleeplessness and anxious, they dumped their grief on each other, reproached each other and quarreled.

Jean-Paul Gaultier (French Jean-Paul Gaultier) is a French designer. Founder and head of his own fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier S.A. His work defined the look of haute couture throughout the 80s and 90s of the last century.

Jean-Paul Gaultier was born in the suburbs of Paris on April 24, 1952. The world of fashion attracted him from an early age. As a child, he could leaf through magazines for hours on end, while carefully peering into each picture and trying to remember it. The boy was raised by his grandmother, who allowed him to watch TV all day. From what he saw, little Gaultier drew his first design inspiration, which poured into stylish costumes for a teddy bear. The child dressed the toy model either in a space suit or in a bride's dress. When Gaultier becomes a designer, he will continue to look for inspiration in visual images: television, painting, cinema, and simply in the guises of casual passers-by.

At first, Jean-Paul seriously decided to become a hairdresser. But, when he was 18 years old, he sent his sketches to the famous Pierre Cardin. The designer really liked the work of the newcomer, and he offered the young man the place of his assistant. This was in 1970. Just a year later, he became Michel Goma's assistant at the Jean Patou House, then left for Angelo Tarlazzi.

1974-1975 - Gaultier develops PIERRE CARDIN collections for the US market.

1976 - Jean-Paul opens his own clothing company. His partners are two school friends. Fransis Menuge was named director of the company, a position he held until 1990, this year he died of AIDS. The second companion was Donald Potar. He took over the business after a friend's death.

At that time, aspiring entrepreneurs had almost no money. They created the first collection from “scrap materials”. It consisted, for example, of small dresses made of napkins or jewelry made of tea strainers and batteries. From this collection, Gauthier's corporate style began to take shape, based on a mixture of genres and bold experiments with materials. In his subsequent work, he will often be engaged in the transformation of familiar things. During the demonstration of the first collection, the hall was almost empty. It turned out that at the same time there was a show of some famous designer who gathered the entire Parisian public.

“I strive to avoid sclerotic clichés, stereotypical behavior of professional fashion models.

My models do not entertain the audience, but show clothes that anyone can wear, ”said the designer.

Indeed, the most ordinary women who were not at all model appearance appeared on the catwalk.
1978 Gaultier begins to work with the Japanese company Kashiyama, which agreed to sponsor his work.

The public noticed the new designer after the 1980 James Bond collection. Its creation was commissioned by Japanese sponsors. The leather shorts and miniskirts that dominated her were seen as a parody of the 60s.

The next year, the "High-tech" collection was released, which brought its creator the status of a "fashion hooligan". Garbage-style clothes were presented here. Garbage buckets, cans - these are the main elements of the decor. The electronic circuit boards and packaging of cat food turned out to be wonderful bracelets. This is how Gaultier discovered the topic of recycling waste in fashion. This idea will very soon capture the whole of Europe, preoccupied with environmental problems.

1993 Jean-Paul launched the first fragrance of his brand. He borrowed the idea of the bottle from Elsa Schiaparelli. True, the glass female torso, belonging to the singer Madonna (Madonna), in Gauthier's version was in a tin can.

1983 - a sensational collection was published, which had the loud name "Dadaism". She further solidified Gaultier's fame as an avant-garde designer. Jean-Paul and in his further work, after this collection, continued to return to the traditions of art of the early twentieth century. They became the designer's creative credo. It was here that his signature "corset style" was born. The cut of the dress matched the cut of the corset with underwire and cups. In the eyes of people of that time, these clothes looked too vulgar.

In 1984-1985. the topic of corsets was continued and exaggerated. This is reflected in the collection "Beards" or "Culture Shock". Indeed, there was something to be shocked by. Huge hairpieces and horns on the chest were just in abundance. Gaultier thus tried to destroy stereotypes and expand the framework of the usual reality. He was constantly in search of new images. Critics of his style accused the designer of deliberately disfiguring a woman.

In the same 1984, Jean-Paul Gaultier again shocked the audience, this time with the men's collection "Man-Object". Mannequins, dressed in vests and skirts, walked on the catwalk.

The designer owns a huge number of unexpected design inventions, such as corsets for men, blazers with an open back and much more. Gaultier is a true adherent of postmodernism, in his work he sought to erase the boundaries between man and woman. This idea even included the names of his collections: "And God Created Man", "Wardrobe for Two", "History of a Man", "French Gigolo", "Indiscreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and "Dear Monsignor". The latter was an allusion to the collection of the famous couturier of the 50s Pierre Balmain, she was called "Sweet Madame".

In 1986 Gaultier decided to play with the image of a prostitute in his new collection "Dolls". The female models then appeared on the catwalk in black satin underwear and stockings.

1986 - Perestroika began in the Soviet Union, which brought a fascination with Russian motives and Soviet symbols to the world of fashion. Jean-Paul Gaultier does not stand aside, and creates his "Russian collection", the models of which are decorated with inscriptions in Cyrillic.

The "Concierge" collection of 1988 became a harbinger of 90s fashion with its tendency towards fashionable oxymoron, the designer combined the most seemingly incongruous elements.

By the end of the 80s, Jean-Paul Gaultier had become the recognized leader of all French fashion. Madonna, who had an incredible flair for new trends, in 1987 met with the designer in Paris. Gaultier begins to design all the stage costumes for the singer. Thanks to this alliance, the French fashion designer soon gained worldwide fame.
1990 - For Madonna's world tour, called Blond Ambition, the designer creates gold leather corsets, men's bust suits and sailor flared trousers.

Since 1989 Jean-Paul Gaultier has been designing costumes for cinematography. His first project was Peter Greenaway's The Chef, Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. It was followed by the film Kika by the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. In 1997, Gaultier designed the outfit for Luc Besson's The Fifth Element.

The first youth collection of the Junior Gaultier brand was released in 1988. And the first denim collection was in 1992.

The beginning of the 90s was marked by a special riot of grotesque in the collections of Gaultier. He played the cowboy style in a parody manner, created hats in the form of kitchen utensils and musical instruments. Jean-Paul invented transparent bodysuits, and brought female aliens with shaved heads and shoes on a huge platform onto the catwalk.

The designer has always paid great attention to his own image. It was another attention grabber. He was easily recognizable by his bleached hair, vest and boots. Not only he himself wore a vest, he was wearing a men's perfume and many haute couture collections repeated this motive.

Jean-Paul Gaultier became a real pop star in the 90s. He was a presenter on television, recorded discs and was fond of photography.

Since 1993, the designer's passion for ethnic themes begins. The Rabbi Shik collection was inspired by images of Hasidic rabbis whom he accidentally saw on the streets of New York. So in his arsenal appeared dark clothes to the floor, release shirts, vests and little hats. The 1994 collection "Tatu" had a huge impact on youth fashion of the last decade of the century, and it was based on the costumes of Africa and Southeast Asia. On clothes, drawings appeared in the form of tattoos, reminiscent of banknotes and graffiti motifs. Ethnic silver jewelry and piercings were insanely popular in the 90s - these ideas also belonged to Gaultier.

The collection "Mongols" from 1994-1995 continued the theme of ethnic costume. In 1995, the “End of the Century” collection was released, in which Gaultier turned to the clothes of the outgoing century.

1997 - Jean-Paul Gaultier begins to develop full-fledged haute couture collections. Although earlier he spoke negatively about high fashion, and stated that he was not interested in it. In his opinion, it was a fashion that "smelled of mothballs." However, his collection "Gaultier-Paris" is released. It was men's and women's clothing that parodied haute couture traditions with extraordinary talent.

In 1999 Gaultier sells 35% of its shares to Hermès. This gives the fashion designer a material basis for the subsequent expansion of his business.

Jean-Paul Gaultier was often called "the most brilliant designer of the late twentieth century." His work ideally corresponded to the postmodern era. The surrounding reality seems to be mixed in his models into some unimaginable cocktail of style.

Celebrity biographies

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15.10.15 09:50

His costumes were worn by the heroes of Besson's science fiction film The Fifth Element and the tragicomedy Chef, Thief, His Wife and Her Lover; he created provocative outfits for the French stage star Mylene Farmer and for the pop queen Madonna. In the biography of Jean-Paul Gaultier, not everything went smoothly right away, he did not receive a special education, but this does not interfere with the couturier's inspiration.

Biography of Jean-Paul Gaultier

Bear ... in a newlywed costume

Biography of Jean-Paul Gaultier began in a Parisian suburb on April 24, 1952. He was looked after by his grandmother, who encouraged his little grandson in his drawing studies, he could flip through fashion magazines or watch TV for hours - from there, from the magical world of the blue screen, he drew his first inspiration. The boy began to make clothes for toys - from the material at hand. So his little bear dressed in futuristic costumes, and sometimes "tried on" ... a wedding dress.

In his youth, he thought that he would become a hairdresser or stylist, but, having dared to send his sketches to Cardin, he received an invitation to work. Becoming an assistant to a famous fashion designer is a good start, but this fellowship did not last very long. After working for other fashion houses, Jean-Paul went back to basics and went to Manila - this was in the mid-1970s. The young master worked on the Pierre Cardin line, which was intended for the Americans. A year later, Gaultier dared to present his collection. He started a company with several friends, but was too carried away by futurism: his outfits from napkins and jewelry from scrap materials were not outstanding. Although even then the Frenchman boldly experimented with styles.

Infan terible

After the failure, Jean-Paul decided that he would still not follow the "trodden paths", but some loud scandal was needed to attract the attention of the public and the press. He decided to shock his compatriots, inviting ladies with a non-standard figure, punks, and elderly people instead of slender, beautiful fashion models. And the defiles themselves took place in incredible places: from the ring to museums and depots. He was quickly dubbed a "bully" and was also called "l'enfant terrible" (in Russian it sounds familiar: "infan teribl", "terrible or too spoiled child") for his "garbage design" and not very aesthetic models. He himself preferred the "hooligan" style, putting on kilts and vests.

Related in spirit: Madonna, Farmer, Manson

In the late 1980s, the designer found a kindred spirit - the singer Madonna, who also strove for shocking and appeared on stage in front of thousands of spectators almost in underwear. Gaultier contributed to the image of the "beautiful sinner", it was he who created the legendary bra for the performance of the star with cups-cones.

Collaboration with the brightest, provocative performers continued. So, stage costumes from Gaultier were preferred by another Infant Teribl, Marilyn Manson. Later, Milen Farmer joined the army of couturier fans (the master made outfits for her for the 2009 and 2013 tours).

Eurovision stars and the gothic bride

Twice Jean-Paul Gaultier guessed the success of the Eurovision participants with some sixth sense, and the singers, twice dressed in his luxurious dresses, won. Both times they were not "simple" girls. 1998 - transgender Israeli Dana International. And in 2014 - Austrian Conchita Wurst.

Favorite movie characters

Do you remember the unimaginable outfit of the incessantly chattering hero Chris Tucker from The Fifth Element?

This, too, is the work of a "hooligan fashion designer", like all costumes for the tape. Jean-Paul dressed the characters of the filmmakers Peter Greenaway and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, as well as Pedro Almodovar.

World fame

In his mature years, the biography of Jean-Paul Gaultier developed more than successfully. He hosted a popular program on British TV, was friends with the stars, created mind-blowing collections and directed. For almost 7 years he was the creative director of the Hermès fashion house, during which time the legendary French corporation became a major shareholder of Jean Paul Gaultier S.A (45% of shares). But in the spring of 2010, the couturier left the post of director to become president of his fashion house.

Since 1993, under the auspices of the brand, perfume "from Gaultier" has been produced (this line is handled by the Spanish company "Puig", another shareholder of the fashion designer's company).

Personal life of Jean-Paul Gaultier

This wound will never heal

The couturier, like many of his colleagues, is openly gay. In 1990, a tragedy occurred in Jean-Paul Gaultier's personal life: his lover Francis Menouge died of complications of AIDS. The designer fell into despair and, as he himself admits, was close to suicide. But he did not leave the world of Haute Couture, saying: "One day Francis came to me and said that I must continue to live ...".

No one could heal this wound. The only thing that Jean-Paul can do for such sufferers of the immunodeficiency virus is to transfer money to the accounts of funds to fight this terrible disease.

Jean Paul Gaultier, the famous French fashion designer, was born on April 24, 1952 in the heart of France, in Paris, the capital of fashion. Near Paris there is a place called Arquele, where Jean Paul spent his childhood. The boy grew up as a creative person, he paid attention to the most beautiful things, saw in simple objects - luxurious masterpieces, or created them himself. The future couturier did not like children's boyish fun, but he was fond of cinema and theater.

Jean-Paul Gaultier biography

Since childhood, he loved to draw, sew clothes, cut them out, trying on everything on his toy - a teddy bear. Jean Paul Gaultier loved female company, he often sat in the evenings with his grandmother, aunt and mother. He studied all female habits. On weekends and in his spare time, Jean Paul sketched clothes and looked at fashion magazines.

The outrageousness of Jean Paul Gaultier was manifested from early childhood. He loved to be paid a lot of attention.

Jean Paul Gaultier and Pierre Cardin

When Jean Paul turned 18, he sent the sketches of the clothes directly to Pierre Cardin and received an invitation from him, not just an invitation - Cardin wanted Gaultier to be his first assistant.

Gaultier liked working with Pierre Cardin, but after one year he left the company. Soon he began to collaborate with Angelo Terlazzi - less famous in comparison with Pierre Cardin, the designer of Paris.

In 1974, Jean Paul returned to Pierre Cardin, realizing that Terlazzi was not the person with whom he would like to work for a long time. In addition, he did not see any prospects for himself in the fashion industry in collaboration with Angelo Terlazzi.
For a whole year with Pierre Cardin, he was engaged in the development of clothing for the United States.

Jean Paul Gaultier opens a fashion brand

Finally, in 1976, Gaultier, together with his school friends, opened a sewing and clothing company. It was decided to appoint Francis Menuage as the director of the new company, but unfortunately, having worked in this position for several years, he died of AIDS.
Then in 1990, Donald Potar, a school friend of the couturier, was appointed director of a clothing company.

Shocking and Gaultier

As mentioned above, Jean-Paul Gaultier loves shocking, and he simply loves to shock the audience with his image and his shows!

But this wisdom in creating individual, no one else's clothes shows, did not come to him right away. And after journalists and fashionable people were absent from his first fashion show. Only because on the same day there was a show of a more famous designer.

Then he realized that the audience should be shocked! Gaultier began to invent where the screenings could be held: in the tram depot, just on the street, or even in a closed, not working prison.

And the models of the famous fashion designer of clothes are often not of model appearance: bbw, or old grandmothers.

Jean Paul Gaultier - "fashion bully"

For such his love of shocking, Jean is called a fashion bully.

Jean Paul loves to work with different materials, from simple paper napkins to metal parts. But he manages to present it in such a way that his design turns into high fashion.

Jean-Paul Gaultier early collections

Gaultier calls his final formation in the world of fashion "James Bond", when he was sponsored by the multi-brand company "Kashiyama".

His name became popular and famous in all fashion circles. Famous celebrities, actors, people of the world of fashion, theater and art began to order his clothes. For example, the famous Madonna costume for the world tour with a protruding bra. It was executed by Jean Paul Gaultier. After such a positive collaboration with Madonna, they became very close friends. The designer constantly prepares with his own hands the stage costumes for Madonna.
The residents of Paris especially remembered the “High-tech” collection, when models walked the catwalk in garbage bags with buckets, accessories were made of cat cans. Jean Paul Gaultier, thanks to such defiant shows, will receive the status of the avant-garde of fashion.

After several such shows, fashion critics began to say that Jean-Paul Gaultier is fundamentally trying to disfigure female beauty. But soon all the controversy subsided. People saw that Gaultier was trying to bring something new to the world of fashion and art that other famous designers had not had before.

Creation of spirits

In 1993, the designer released his first perfume.
In 1997, his first HAUTE COUTURE collection appeared.
Jean Paul sold 35 percent of Jean Paul Gaultier shares to the fashion brand HERMES. He soon became the creative designer at this fashion house, while simultaneously developing and promoting his brand.
A couple of years ago, he left the post of creative designer Ermes and began to fully focus only on his brand.