Why Jean Paul Gaultier is one of Fashions Biggest Icons

oh my God look it's Jean-Paul Gautier well my British terms who is Jean-Paul Gautier well he's known for many things his outrageous rebellious fashion nicknamed the Aunt Von turible for it for his widely adored fragrances with possibly one of the most internationally recognized bottles for Designing many iconic beloved outfits worn by Madonna to the cast of The Fifth Element and for wearing a kilt while presenting some of the strangest stories from Mainland Europe on eurotrash he's done it all he left his mark on the world and fashion without ever even going to Fashion school well I don't think that Jean-Paul Gaultier is underrated I only people appreciate just how creative inventive and ahead of his time that he was I feel like fashion even today is generally underappreciated in pop culture but Jean-Paul gutier proved how big of an impact it could have through his vast body of work so how about you sit back relax there's a lot of cool stuff to get through let's look at the legacy of Jean-Paul Gautier I'm going to be saying his name a lot so sorry if I butchered a couple times Jean-Paul Gautier was born in Paris to a middle-income family and he first found a love for fashion from his grandmother who he would visit each weekend he first started making clothes for his teddy bear Nana he wanted it at all but his parents did not approve of a boy having a doll but that didn't stop him so he still has the bear and you can see for yourself how as a five-year-old kid he created The Cone raw that would be made famous by Madonna decades later a key aspect of his design process has always been sketching which may sound obvious but not all designers sketch Tom Brown designs through solid shapes and lines somehow and others work straight off a mannequin with fabric but John Paul Gautier does these amazing drawings and a moment that he attributes to his interest in fashion sketching was his exposure to the Folly Berger Cabaret Girls from a documentary that he saw about them the day after he saw it he was bored in class drawing these Cabaret Girls with the extravagant feathers and outfits the teacher saw him doing this and to punish him stuck the drawings to his back and made him walk around the class and show everybody what he'd done but the other kids in this class actually liked his drawings and wanted him to do some for them and this just inspired him further it could have easily gone the other way where you know the other kids could have flamed him which I don't know how big of an effect I could have had on his life but clearly he remembers the story now as a 70 year old adult who knows how it could have turned out different but thankfully he was praised and encouraged to be himself not by his teachers or his parents but by his peers after finishing school at 18 years old he sent his drawings to many designers in the hopes of getting work and luckily got the eye of Pierre Cardon falsely assuming that Jean-Paul must have been a university student or something I think it again really worked in Jean Paul's favor that Pierre Cardone of all designers decided to hire him because back then he was about 50 at that point and had a reputation as France's rebellious designer he pioneered a retro futurist vision of fashion that a lot of people saw as tacky but a lot of people also loved he was a very wacky designer this is the house that he built for himself it's crazy according to Jean-Paul he also cast a diverse range of models which is something that we'll see Jean-Paul champion in his work as well Jean-Paul worked for Pierre Cardon on and off and had the freedom to design whatever he wanted to so I can see how working under such a person would only encourage John Paul to further be himself and dream big not all designers and journalists especially the French ones were as open-minded as Cardinal and this is how Jean-Paul Gaultier learned about fashion and design he didn't get any formal training he was trained through watching movies seeing the fashion of designers he admired like Eve Saint Laurent and all also working in the industry for cardall and other designers which he wasn't as big of a fan of like Jean part 2 but he did it anyway so Jean-Paul Gaultier basically freelanced through the early 70s designing clothes that he thought that the designer he was working under would like but in 1975 he met Frances menuch who became his business partner and boyfriend John Paul referred to himself as more of an abstract rather than ambitious person and said that Francis is the one who encouraged him to design and create his own fashion label because Francis saw that passion in him even when he was lazy and demotivated so a year later with barely any money to their name jean-par gotier with the help of his partner created his first solo collection although he would only officially launch his own label a couple years later he didn't blow up straight away or anything like that quite the opposite he said that his first show was a massive failure but perhaps with encouragement from Francis he continued to create and after that he did start to Garner more attention he got a lot of attention a few years later in 1980 when he designed women's dresses out of plastic trash bags and bracelets out of tin cans he said that the French critics initially detested his work and the only journalists and buyers that would come to his shows were British and Japanese before I start talking about more of his iconic shows once he started getting popular I want to talk about some of the ways that Jean-Paul Gaultier was distinct and that led to his success at the dawn of the 80s he started to develop quite a love for the UK in London the new romantic scene had picked up steam which gave rise to an active nightclub scene new artists that were played in these clubs like Boy George and Duran Duran and most importantly a plethora of fascinating people who took pride in expressing themselves as much as possible a notable crazy dresser from this time that Jean-Paul Gaultier and others like Alexander McQueen took inspiration from was Lei Bowery John Paul said himself that in London there were lots of creative people and energy to be inspired by while in Paris he felt that it had a lot more boring Chic people who looked down at people dressing differently the London scene became a major source of inspiration and motivation for Jean-Paul who had gone to create his shows with the same to the point but beautiful free spirit that he saw around him there he loved standing at King's cross and watching the various types of people who came through there and I say source of motivation as well because his sources of inspiration were kind of everywhere you had no idea what his next collection was going to be about he combined Easter turn and Western cultures radical new ideas to Classic designs integrated new technology into his clothing there is a Gautier collection that will appeal to everyone in terms of the topic that he's decided to base it around whether it's technology tattooing or Frida Kahlo whether his design is your cup of tea is a completely different story though but as radical lesson of his designs were he still always aimed to create something pleasant he wasn't always trying to shock he was just trying to be himself and show what he found beautiful I think that one reason that he's responsible for so many iconic designs is because of the variety of things that his collections were about he didn't hold himself to anything nothing was off the table which allowed him to explore various cultures and styles and I think he all did a really good job honoring the cultures that he was inspired by as we'll see a little later after getting some momentum going he managed to open a fashion house under his own name in 1982 backed by an Italian firm and a Japanese manufacturer at this point onwards Jean-Paul gote started to build a reputation for himself as the orfonterribler for his extraordinary design 1982 was also the first year that he did menswear and when he first Incorporated the Breton stripe or the my Mariner into his clothes this is a classic French garment which was originally a part of the French Sailors uniform before Coco Chanel appropriated it into her own wardrobe the title of his first men's collection was which means man as an object what did he mean by this well as I explained he designed from a place of personal expression which was taken at times as a form of rebellion to the status quo now this can definitely be seen through how he viewed men and women and his model choices he refuted the stereotypical image of the submissive woman which was definitely a much stronger stereotype back then so he did things like make lingerie and other undergarments like corsets into their own dresses he dressed women in suits and made them more masculine and in charge of who they were and how they dressed and for men well he believed in equality right so with his first collection LOM object he made man more feminine and objectify them as women have been for so long he came out with the backless marinara t-shirt and later we see him dressing men in skirts and cutting holes out in traditional men's pieces although his purpose was not to demean men instead give them another side while he did dress men in some blatantly feminine items he also delved into the history of men's fashion to empower them in different ways for the skirts that he dressed them in he took inspiration from various cultures like the Kilts of Scotland and skirts of the Japanese Samurai a few years after this 1982 collection he released some wide leg pants that had a wrap over panel that made it look like a skirt which was embraced by David Beckham John Paul had a strong sense of integrity and regardless of the outdated Norms that were around him he stuck to what he knew was right not only regarding gender but also regarding race and other things in the 70s while working for Jean Patu he suggested a black model for a certain look but those above him told him that it wouldn't appeal to the American buyers and in their same interview Sean Paul then said it was not true because they didn't buy anything the American buyer on any buyers in Joba 2 nobody was buying so when it came to his own collections there were black models there were models of all Races and sizes and ages and appearances he cast models that didn't fit the Barbie doll mold like Rossi De Palma even though I think she looked the best in Jean-Paul gaultier's 1994 tattoo collection a year later in 1995 in his Cyber Shop he had two pregnant models and the daughter who was inside one of the models bellies modeled for Jean-Paul Gaultier when she had all grown up like 20 years later in the 80s when he was casting such a diverse range of models he did get criticism for it back then people were just way too harsh I think today people aren't harsh enough criticism can be a great thing if it comes from the right place but back then anyone who stepped out of the Norms of fashion was criticized so it's good to see that people are more or less praised for today okay now we can really look at some clothes there are actually a decent amount of photos of looks of his from the 80s he created many variations on the cone bra that will make a comeback a bit later there's even this Fez hat bra to bless your eyes he was one of the first designers to dress men more androgynously on their Runway following his Alum obj collection and I feel like a lot of his ideas for a more varied menswear closet should be Revisited today I hope that you can see for yourself how his style is quite hard to pin down there is definitely a camp element to a lot of his looks but I can't deny that a lot of them still come off very cohesive and clean looking and then there are the ones that are extremely garish and camp but the 90s is when John Paul really reached his potential and peace in the 90s people started becoming more anti-establishment and hungry for experimentation and excitement and since John balkote had already been serving that the 90s is when he grew to his most popular and his collections during this decade were in my opinion his best ever although Jean-Paul started the new decade with a tragedy in his personal life his partner over the last 15 years Francis manouge passed away from an aids-related illness which shook him and his community of friends during this time he tried his best to remain positive and ended up putting a lot of time into his brand the 1919 menswear collection was a great Twist on classic menswear tropes that covered so much ground it could have easily made up an entire wardrobe it hits on so many different moods while still being undeniably masculine elegant and Camp all at once one of his best menswear displays next his 1994 show called Lei tattooage is in competition with the next show I'm going to talk about after this for his most iconic The Collection was a cross-cultural mix and match while the show was titled after the tattoo motifs that were present throughout the show there were many stunning designs on display denim Trump Loy that we saw why project recreate a couple seasons ago these amazing faux piercings and jewelry found in Hindu and African tribe culture and subversive classic tailoring which is also commonly seen today as gote was at his Peak at this time these collections were huge there were 95 looks on display for this season which is absolutely crazy the tattoo printed tops were definitely the most distinct other than maybe the piercings and I think these tattoo designs are a great example of how different designers can cover the same topics and still be original a few years earlier margella who had previously worked for Gautier came out with his own tattoo print mesh top it's clear how Jean-Paul gote expanded on the idea and made it his own he wasn't inspired by margiela's top necessarily but by a tattoo convention that he attended in the UK and isamiyaki was the first to come out with a tattoo top years before margella did he was inspired by Yakuza tattoo culture just because something has been done doesn't mean it can't be done better or in a different way as I said the Briton stripe had been very popular in fashion before Jean-Paul but after Jean-Paul the Breton stripe has taken on so many more forms Jean-Paul Gautier was actually the first to show the split toe Tabby design on the runway after he and his team including marzella taken a trip to Japan but the reason margiela is known for the tabi is because margella put a heel on it and made it into a leather boot while Gautier didn't really develop the Tabby into anything more maybe margiela had the idea back then but kept it for himself instead of letting Gautier take the credit Jean Paul Gotti's 495 cyber collection is the other show battling out for his most well-known as the 90s were progressing Manny fashion designers were experimenting with new technology helmet Lang and Walter van berendong started recording their shows and sharing them online Jean-Paul Gautier was experimenting with what the future would look like by using new programs to help with his actual design process and it helped him create these amazing colorful halftone prints of a woman's body and he would go on to use halftones further to make even more gray garments in spring summer 96 here's one shirt that was famously worn by Robin Williams and the look has since been revived after Y2K started getting popular although this kind of cyber luck belongs to the late 90s real Y2K fashion is more Ed Hardy and Juicy Couture but back to the Cyber collection like any Gautier show it was an Eclectic mix with more than just cyber halftone looks on display this collection has also been referred to as his Mad Max collection for being held than a dark industrial space and the collection opening to the Roar of models on a motorbike going down the runway in black leather but this was a femme Centric Mad Max interpretation as he says it was for the Amazonian woman who was courageous confident and very much in control of her life The Collection featured Carmen delorefis known for being one of the oldest working models in this show she walked with an eagle on her arm aged 64. she was 64. the eagle was only 60 in Eagle years there are also two pregnant models dressed in all black leather later came these bright looks that were being inflated by a hair dryer that the models held as they walked and there's much more to this collection it's just it has a 105 looks to go through although if you want to learn more Vogue made a great video covering it and talking to the people who were there at the time from the models who walked in it and Sean Paul gote himself at this point you can see for yourself Jean-Paul gote is producing 100 looks per show in completely full venues wherever he wanted to the next reasonable step for him to take was oat Couture and the way he started his old Couture was rather amusing he recalled that Bernard or no of all people was looking for a new designer for Dior in 1996 and Jean Paul received a call but was disappointed to find out that he had been catfished and the vacancy that was offered to him was at Givenchy not Dior a brand that he didn't particularly care for and called a ripoff of other brands like Dior and iseleron Arnold told Gotti that it would bring him more attention which just annoyed John Paul Gotti even more considering his shows were already the hottest at Fashion Week season after season as we know today Alexander McQueen took the job begrudgingly he also didn't care for gion sheep but took it because it was a well-paid job and he was just starting out this however inspired Gautier to Simply start his own Orchard line that he'd always dreamed of doing since he was a child and he had the money to do so through his ready-to-wear lines but also from the fragrance line he had launched in 1993 which by 96 had sold 40 million bottles and so the very next year he debuted his first oat kajur collection in Spring 97 and this collection was as iconoclastic as any other Jean-Paul Gaultier show a couple novel ideas that he brought to Couture was firstly adding men into the mix because men deserve old Couture as well and while he honored the craft with many finely it looks and gowns he also clashed against traditional ideals of Couture using denim brand logos and visible garment tags things more associated with ready to wear and casual clothing all is contrasted the level of fantasy and dress-up that those around him like McQueen and Galliano were doing and I think the show had a pretty straightforward sentiment of Gautier wanting to make Couture which is the highest quality best made garments that money can buy on his own terms that being said he also had some fantasy of his own to present such as this tropical bird look that looks like something modern Ace giaparelli would come out with it's interesting to see Balenciaga take a similar approach with their Couture 20 years later bringing Denim and more casual garments into the mix fashion really is just cyclical how we've seen it all before some other shows that I won't go more in depth on but I also really liked was his spring summer 98 Frida Kahlo inspired show his fall winter 94 show with Bjork and the spring summer 96 show that featured the ABS Trump loiter that Robin Williams wore I can't make a video about Jean-Paul Gaultier without mentioning his impact on pop culture obviously he had a public artistic relationship with Madonna he admired her provocative demeanor and the feeling was Mutual they met each other in a party in Paris and Jean-Paul saw that she was wearing a corset That was supposed to be like a ripoff of one of his designs and in the moment he told her that in the future she could call him to design a whole wardrobe for her well a few months later she rang him up to design her 1990 blunder missions tour wardrobe and it apparently took multiple calls and a fax in order to convince Jean-Paul gote that it was the real Madonna call it so he took his cone design and put it on her he said that he saw Madonna as such a commanding show woman and that she has such a chiseled masculine face so that's why he wanted to put the harsh contrasting combra to match her personality and features unfortunately I've never really been a big fan of Madonna she was a bit before my time so I appreciate what he did there but his work for The Fifth Element appeals to me a lot more that movie was also before my time but I've since seen it and loved it it's a jokingly serious sci-fi movie with some of the best retro futurist fashion that any sci-fi movie has to offer the movie was directed by French director Luke bison so that's how Jean-Paul Gautier got involved with the project he designed every outfit the airline hostesses Bruce Willis's and lilus Chris Tucker's amazing characters outfit too you've never seen The Fifth Element it's it's great for The Outfits alone but the rest movie is also entertaining one of the last major steps Gorge took in his career was from 2003 to 2010 where he succeeded margiela at Hermes while margiela went for a very elegant clean Chic you could say take that really highlighted hermes's craftsmanship gautier's Hermes experimented a lot more with silhouette and he definitely brought a bit of his campus to Hermes while still maintaining the Brand's elegant feel I found this move quite interesting Hermes was clearly interested in Gautier because in 1999 they acquired a 35 stake in his company but Hermes and gotier don't feel like brands that really meshed together stylistically or ideologically but who's to say you can't enjoy both Brands approach Gautier continued the same approach he had from the 80s 90s into the 2000s and while his brand never fell off or anything like that interests in fashion obviously changes but Jean-Paul Gautier Timeless as he got older though he inevitably started winding back at his brand he stopped doing ready to wear in 2014 and stuck solely to okature but in January 2020 in very timely fashion concerning what was to come Jean-Paul Gaultier retired from Fashion with his very last Couture show but the brand still lives on I think Jean-Paul Gotti has taken the perfect approach for the future of his brand he's never been a businessman really he's always loved the art and the self-expression of fashion and so his strategy for the future of his brand is to continue the old Couture shows each season and have them be guest designed by whatever designer he wishes to see remixes archive so far he's had absolute Stars designing for him in chitose Abe Glenn Martin's Olivier rustang and heider Ackerman let's just say he has good taste I think having new designers come in each season is a great way to let designers get a taste of old Couture and design freely without the pressure of reaching certain margins on sales and without having to sacrifice their own brand in the process and Jean-Paul gaultier's brand gets to live on in such an exciting appropriate way because each season we don't know who's going to be the designer so as the audience we have no idea what to expect and so far I've been really impressed with the guest design or Couture that the house has come out with and Jean Paul gote himself isn't just sitting idly watching father's design while he's retired he's moved on to theater where he created his own show called Jean Paul gutier's fashion freak Show which recounts his life through live performance taking him to the many clubs and parties he frequented when he was younger check it out at a theater near you maybe if you live in Munich or Tokyo yeah that's about it I try to keep it relatively concise I've obviously left a lot on the table for you to go learn about yourself of all designers out there jean-ball Cartier has always been one of my favorites so I hope you come to feel the same about him if he is to your taste if you want to learn about some other great designers that are a bit Niche I've done a patreon video touching on the careers of Hannah Mori the designer that came before issamiyaki raykov Kubo all of the popular Japanese designers we know today Oswald Boateng the youngest salvaro Taylor and AF enforced a super creative Belgian label I also put out another video reacting to an Alexander McQueen Doc I ordered his videos every week on patreon 25 year a month if you're interested in joining and supporting this channel okay I'll stop e-begging now thanks for watching bye see you next time your trust please don't play this video if I use some of your Clips please I'm just joking around come on

Channel: Fashionlover4

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Id: Tyr9Rx1DaJQ

Length: 18min 57sec (1137 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 20 2023