Fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier was born on April 24, 1952, in the suburbs of France to accountant parents.
He did not receive professional fashion training, but learned dressmaking from his grandmother. He sent design drawings to stylists, which caught the eye of Pierre Cardin, and his career began. In 1976, he launched his eponymous women's brand. In 1977, he was hired as the designer for Onward Kashiyama's select boutique, "Bus Stop." He was discovered by the late Yoshio Nakamoto, who was then working at Kashiyama France, and in 1981 he signed a licensing agreement with the company. Early brand tags had "KASHIYAMA" woven into them. In 1984, he launched a men's line. The theme of his first collection was "Homme Objet." He introduced the sensational style of dressing men in skirts. For over 20 years since, he has continued to top the reviews of buyers and journalists at the Paris Collection published in the French apparel industry newspaper, Journal du Textile. From Autumn/Winter 2004 to Spring/Summer 2011, he served as women's artistic director for Hermès.
His tastes are classic yet avant-garde, couture yet street, Parisian yet Asian, feminine yet masculine. He presented designs that fused all kinds of tastes, transcending time, country, gender and race, and he was described as an "enfant terrible" and a "maverick in the fashion world." His signature works include underwear looks such as cone bras and corset dresses, wrap pants, sailor pants and tulle tops. Striped tops paired with kilts and skirts paired with tuxedos are classic styles. The brand's iconic design is the collar strap. He has a strong affinity for film and artist costumes, and has worked on films such as "The Fifth Element" (Luc Besson) and "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and His Lover" (Peter Greenaway), as well as many Pedro Almodóvar films. In addition to "Kika" and "Bad Education," he also designed the costumes for the recent film "The Skin I Live In." He is close friends with artists such as Madonna and Marilyn Manson. In addition to designing costumes for both artists' tours, his 2003 Spring/Summer Men's Collection featured looks reminiscent of Manson, with the theme "Cruel like Michel Polnareff, Romantic like Marilyn Manson." Madonna was the first to publicly introduce the iconic "Le Privé" bag. He currently offers ready-to-wear lines Femme, Monsieur, and Junior (children's clothing) as well as haute couture lines like Gaultier Paris. Production of knitwear, tulle and swimwear is by FUZZI, while woven fabrics were produced by AEFFE until last year, but have now returned to GIBO, which was in charge of production from 1981 to 1994. From SS14, a men's diffusion line produced by Ittiere is planned.
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