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Jean-Paul Gaultier (born April 24, 1952, in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne)
is a French fashion designer and past television presenter.
Gaultier never received formal training as a designer. Instead, he started sending
sketches to famous couture stylists at an early age. Pierre Cardin was impressed by
his talent and hired him as an assistant in 1970.
His first individual collection was released in 1976 and his characteristic
irreverent style dates from 1981, and he has long been known as the enfant terrible
(bad boy) 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 and designed the
wardrobe for her Confessions Tour in 2006, as well. Gaultier has also worked in
close collaboration with Wolford Hosiery. He promoted the use of skirts, especially
kilts on men's wardrobe, and the release of designer collections.
Gaultier caused shock by using unconventional models for his exhibitions, like
older men and full-figured women, pierced and heavily tattooed models, and by
playing with traditional gender roles in the shows. This earned him both criticism
and enormous popularity.
Gaultier also designed the wardrobe of many motion pictures, including Luc Besson's
The Fifth Element, Pedro Almodóvar's Kika, Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief,
His Wife & Her Lover, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's La Cité des enfants perdus (The
City of Lost Children). Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour (including the iconic conical
bra) also featured his creations. He currently designs for three collections: his
own couture and ready-to-wear lines, as well as the newly relaunched clothing line
for Hermès, a French leather goods company well-known for their equestrian
background, scarves, and expensive and difficult to obtain handbags. Most recently,
Jean-Paul Gaultier designed Madonna's wardrobe for her 2006 Confessions Tour,
continuing their long-standing relationship.
Gaultier has designed a number of the costumes and outfits worn by rocker Marilyn
Manson, including the outfits for Manson's Golden Age of Grotesque album. He's also
well-known for his exhibit in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art known as
Bravehearts - Men in Skirts.
 Perfumes
In addition to being a fashion designer, Jean-Paul Gaultier is known for a popular
line of perfumes. His first fragrance, Classique, a women's floral-oriental, was
introduced in 1993, followed by Le Mâle for men two years later. Both were highly
successful, and Le Mâle is now the number-one men's fragrance in the European Union
based on sales; it also holds a strong market position in Australia and the United
States.
His third fragrance, the women's fragrance Fragile, was introduced
in 2000; however, it is now in limited distribution due to poor sales. In 2005, the
unisex "fragrance for humanity" Gaultier² (pronounced Gaultier to the power of two)
was launched (except in Canada, where it was launched in January 2006, and the
United States, where it was launched in August 2006).
Most recently, Jean-Paul Gaultier's latest men's fragrance, Fleur
du Male, was launched in April 2007. All Jean-Paul Gaultier perfumes are produced
under a long-term license by Paris-based Beaute Prestige International, a division
of the Japanese company Shiseido that also produces fragrances for Narciso
Rodriguez and Issey Miyake.
Source : Some of the information on
this page came from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU
Documentation License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Jean-Paul
Gaultier - Projector - Biography
