End of an Era: Jean-Paul Gaultier Officially Retires

[rach2jlc]

Those who have posted with me over the last (cough, sigh) fifteen years know that I respect and appreciate Jean-Paul Gaultier. News just came out that he's officially retiring. I feel it's the end of an era.

In the hyped-up world of fashion in the 2010's, which largely I didn't understand, I have no doubt that younger fashion fans don't know much about Gaultier. But, I encourage a great deal of googling to see the amazing work he did over the last FORTY years. He was a true craftsman, who also had a great deal of fun. He played up his gimmicks, which got him attention, but at his core he was a real Couturier. Even his goofy clothes were strangely well constructed.

Here is a link to one story about his retirement:
Gaultier's Last Couture Show

I won't do a "TL;DR" of all his neat stuff here; I've done that before. We can start a discussion and build on it as it goes on. But, without Gaultier, you have no Hedi, you have no "androgyny" in menswear with couture details. You'd have your streetwear and your suits, and Bob Dylan wearing women's clothes on stage. But not a lot else.

He's still relatively young (67) and makes plenty from his license on the perfumes. I wish him the best and hope he enjoys every day.

 

[ter1413]

You should post this in the fashion discussion thread. Loads of traffic there.

 

[rach2jlc]

You should post this in the fashion discussion thread. Loads of traffic there.

Good thinking. I'll post there too. I have been out of the loop on what threads are getting a lot of chat these days. Thanks!

PS can you send me a link?

 

[ter1413]

I meant this one....there is another that i was originally thinking of.

Discussions about the fashion industry thread

^I don't know any fashion people myself, but I thought that he meant that in order to succeed, this high-end menswear rental service would need a different clientele; probably a younger one with a more 'here today, gone tomorrow' attitude towards clothing. I.e people who want to be seen wearing...

www.styleforum.net

 

[ixk]

The press here in France says he isn't really retiring, but rather doing his last fashion show. He will launch a "new concept" in couture, so probably not RTW.