Biography

April 24, 1952
Jean Paul Gaultier is born in Arcueil, a suburb of Paris. Gaultier’s father is a bookkeeper and his mother, a cashier. As a teenager, he designs two collections a year, just for fun, taking inspiration from the top designers and fashion magazines.

1970
After having sent his sketches to several Paris-based designers, on his eighteenth birthday he is hired as a studio assistant by Pierre Cardin.

1971–1973
Gaultier has stints at Jacques Esterel and Jean Patou.

1974–1975
He returns to work for Pierre Cardin, this time in Manila, in the Philippines, where he designs collections for the North American market.

1976
He establishes his own prêt-à-porter label with the help of his life partner, Francis Menuge. His first runway show takes place at the Palais de la découverte planetarium in Paris.

1978
Dominique Emschwiller, manager of the Paris boutique Bus Stop, and Yoshio Nakamoto, of the Japanese company Kashiyama, play a key role in getting the Jean Paul Gaultier label off the ground. With what will be his first collection, they entrust him with designing the group’s prêt-à-porter for women.

1981
The companies Gibò and Equator become Gaultier’s new manufacturing partners. Kashiyama continues to produce, under license, the Jean Paul Gaultier line for the Japanese and Far East market. • Gaultier founds the Société Jean Paul Gaultier with Francis Menuge.

1983
The first corset-style dresses are shown. • Beginning of the collaboration between the designer and the choreographer Régine Chopinot, who will work together on sixteen shows over the next ten years. • First Men’s prêt-à-porter collection.

1985
His And God Created Man collection introduces the men’s skirt.

1986
The first Jean Paul Gaultier boutique opens in the Galerie Vivienne, Paris.

1988
The first Junior Gaultier collection is launched, offering the designer’s basics at prices that are more affordable for the general public.

1989
Gaultier records a house music song “Aow Tou Dou Zat” (“How To Do That”). • He designs costumes for the Peter Greenaway film The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.

1990
Gaultier designs the stage costumes for Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour. • The photo-strip autobiography À Nous Deux la mode is published. • Gaultier designs costumes for accordionist Yvette Horner’s show at the Casino de Paris.

1992
A collection of mobile furniture evoking travel is presented at the Galerie VIA (Valorisation de l’Innovation dans l’Ameublement [promoting innovation in furniture]) in Paris. • The retrospective runway show Jean Paul Gaultier in L.A. is held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to raise funds for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).

1993
Gaultier’s first fragrance for women, Classique, is launched. • The television series Eurotrash, co-hosted by Gaultier and Antoine de Caunes, premieres on Britain’s Channel 4. • He designs costumes for the Pedro Almodóvar film Kika.

1995
His first fragrance for men, Le Male, is launched. • Jean Paul Gaultier hosts the MTV Europe Music Awards in Paris. • He designs costumes for the Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet film The Cityof Lost Children.

1996
Gaultier designs costumes for the Luc Besson film The Fifth Element.

1997
Presentation of Gaultier’s first haute couture collection, Haute Couture Salon Atmosphere.

1999
Gaultier signs a partnership agreement with the house of Hermès. • A fragrance for women, Fragile, is launched.

2000
Gaultier receives an International Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).

2001
Gaultier designs the costumes for the “Geisha” and “Flamenco” segments of Madonna’s Drowned World Tour. • He designs the costumes for the Gabriel Aghion film Absolutely Fabulous. • Gaultier is named a Chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor.

2003
Nicole Kidman receives the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in the Stephen Daldry film The Hours wearing a gown from the Buttons haute couture collection. • Hermès names Gaultier creative director of its Women’s prêt-à-porter. • The first men’s cosmetic and skincare line, Tout beau, tout propre, is launched.

2004
Gaultier’s first collection for Hermès is shown (Women’s prêt-à-porter fall/winter 2004–2005). • He designs the costumes for the Pedro Almodóvar film Bad Education.

2005
A fragrance for both women and men, GAULTIER2, is launched.

2006
Gaultier designs the costumes for Madonna’s worldwide Confessions Tour.

2008
Gaultier designs the costumes for Kylie Minogue’s X2008 Tour. • He also designs the costumes for the ballet Snow White, choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj. • Designs a bottle for Evian. • A fragrance for women, Ma Dame, is launched. • Marion Cotillard receives an Oscar and a César for Best Actress for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in the Olivier Dahan film La Vie en Rose, both times wearing designs from the Mermaids haute couture collection.

2009
Gaultier designs the costumes for Mylène Farmer’s No. 5 tour. • Launch of the first Junior Gaultier collection for children.

2010
Launch of a capsule collection for Target, the American retail chain. • Gaultier redesigns the Elle Décoration Suite at the Palais Chaillot in Paris. • Gaultier collaborates with Roche-Bobois on the design of the Jean Paul Gaultier furniture line, as well as on the reissue of iconic pieces designed for Galerie VIA in 1992. • Creation of a capsule collection for La Perla. • In New York City, the designer receives an amfAR Inspiration Award for his contribution to male fashion and for his tireless commitment to humanitarian causes. • Presentation of the final Hermès collection designed by Gaultier (Women’s prêt-à-porter spring–summer 2011).

2011
Gaultier designs costumes for the Pedro Almodóvar film The Skin I Live In. • End of the partnership with Hermès. The Catalan group Puig becomes the majority shareholder in the House of Jean Paul Gaultier. • Launch of the Kokorico men’s fragrance and the Jean Paul Gaultier layette line. • The first exhibition celebrating the designer’s thirty-five-year career is organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (June 2011). The exhibition later travels to the Dallas Museum of Art (November 2011), the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young (March 2012), the Fundación Mapfre – Instituto de Cultura in Madrid (October 2012), the Kunsthal Rotterdam (February 2013), the Arkitekturmuseet in Stockholm (June 2013), the Brooklyn Museum in New York (October 2013), the Barbican Centre in London (April 2014), the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne (October 2014), the Galeries nationales du Grand Palais in Paris (April 2015) and the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung in Munich (September 2015).

2012
Gaultier designs costumes for Madonna’s MDNA Tour. • Gaultier receives the DUFTSTARS – Berlin award for his entire body of work in fragrance. • Named creative director of Diet Coke, for which he designs three limited edition bottles and an advertising campaign in which he appears, photographed by Stéphane Sednaoui. • Designs costumes for the Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier’s presentation of the opera The Marriage of Figaro, directed by Jean-Paul Scarpitta. • Designs the Jean Paul Gaultier par Lelievre collection of decor fabrics and accessories.

2013
Designs the costumes for Swedish comedienne Petra Mede, who hosts the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. • Creates the stage costumes for Mylène Farmer’s Timeless 2013 tour, as well as for Amanda Lear in the play Divina. • Receives GQ Germany’s Man of the Year Award in the Fashion category.

2014
Designs a collection that includes women’s and children’s wear as well as lingerie to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of Scandinavian fashion chain Lindex. • In collaboration with Designers Against Aids, creates a collection for bag and luggage maker Eastpak. • Designs two costumes for Kylie Minogue’s Kiss Me Once world tour. • Jean Paul Gaultier ends his prêt-à-porter lines to focus on haute couture, fragrance and various special projects.