Jean Paul Gaultier

BACKGROUND Jean-Paul Gaultier was born April 24, 1952, in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne. As a young child, he was heavily inspired by his grandmother’s pink corset. This sparked his love for design. As he grew older, Gaultier never received formal training as a designer but instead sent out sketches to famous couture stylists. Pierre Cardin was impressed by his talent and hired him as an assistant in 1970. The position proved an all-consuming passion, and "failed brilliantly" after taking his final exams. He then worked briefly for Jacques Esterel, where he learnt much of what was to become his signature style, and at the couture house Patou. Returning to Cardin in 1974, he was sent to Manila to represent the company. His designs proved hugely popular among Philippines’ powerful clients, so much that the government refused him an exit visa when he wanted to leave. Finally, he claimed that his grandmother had died and went home. Returning to France in July 1975, Jean-Paul raised the money to present his first collection, with the help of Francis Menuge, the man he has described as the love of his life. It was not until 1978, though, that he received the financial backing to produce his own line. His first menswear collection then released in 1984. Since this time, he has long been known as the enfant terrible of French fashion. Many of Gaultier's following collections have been based on street wear, focusing on popular culture, whereas others, particularly his Haute Couture collections, are very formal yet at the same time unusual and playful. Jean-Paul Gaultier produced sculptured costumes for Madonna during the nineties with her infamous cone-bra for her Blond Ambition Tour, designed the wardrobe for her Confessions Tour in 2006, a number of the costumes and outfits worn by rocker Marilyn Manson, including the outfits for Manson's Golden Age of Grotesque album. Gaultier has also worked in close collaboration with Wolford Hosiery, as well. Gaultier promoted the use of...