Jean-Paul Gaultier is a French fashion designer born on April 24, 1952 in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, France. At the of age 18 he joined the house of Pierre Cardin before moving on to Jacques Esterel and Patou. The debut of Gaultier’s own collection was in 1976, but he did not officially launch his own design house until 1982. His style is known to challenge standard views of fashion.
The Gaultier style of the 1980s was identifiable by the famous silhouette of broad and sloping shoulders and narrow hips that emphasized stockinged legs. In the 1990s his palette of colours and materials was enriched by contact with many cultural worlds. The silhouette became more balanced, and comfort and protection took on added importance. His shows, with their exuberant and provocative staging, long obscured the fact that his clothes are designed to be worn. At the beginning of the millennium, he attained a certain classicism without renouncing the original image of his talent as the enfant terrible of fashion.
The Gaultier style of the 1980s was identifiable by the famous silhouette of broad and sloping shoulders and narrow hips that emphasized stockinged legs. In the 1990s his palette of colours and materials was enriched by contact with many cultural worlds. The silhouette became more balanced, and comfort and protection took on added importance. His shows, with their exuberant and provocative staging, long obscured the fact that his clothes are designed to be worn. At the beginning of the millennium, he attained a certain classicism without renouncing the original image of his talent as the enfant terrible of fashion.