Following Scai’s Chitose Abe and Y/Project and Diesel’s Creative Director Glenn Martens, this season’s Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture collection is guest designed by Olivier Rousteing, current Creative Director of Balmain. He has extracted impressive archive pieces from Jean Paul Gaultier’s archives over the years, and through deconstruction and reassembly, he has presented his own “love letter to Jean Paul Gaultier” in his own way.
During a media interview, Olivier Rousteing did not hide his admiration for Gaultier, “He has long been ahead of all of us in terms of freedom of speech. Today, we discuss concepts of inclusivity, diversity, gender fluidity, and gender ambiguity, and it is clear that Jean Paul Gaultier was the first to do so.”
Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Male perfume, launched in 1995, became a key source of inspiration for this collection. This fragrance, hailed as a classic of the 90s, features a frosted glass bottle shaped like a male torso sculpture, accompanied by an aluminum cylindrical packaging box. Now, it has been reinterpreted by Olivier Rousteing as glass vests and mini skirts, transforming into high heels, clutch bags, and various accessories, becoming playful highlights on female models.
Gaultier once created the Cone Bra Corset for the queen of pop Madonna, a theme that Olivier Rousteing has reinterpreted, outlining extremely feminine curves through delicate weaving, feathers, and frameworks; in addition, he also pays tribute to the Gaultier workshop in a figurative way, with items like pin cushions, measuring tapes, and thimble-topped gloves being used in the clothing.
