Jean Paul Gaultier: 50 Years in Pop Culture

For many of us, our first brush with Jean Paul Gaultier came in a corrugated tin, commonly found behind the scratched glass of a Boots display cabinet. One whiff of the contents in Classique and Le Male's corset and torso-shaped bottles, and memories of awkward school socials and unfortunate exes come flooding back in a haze of unbidden nostalgia.

Besides his command of fragrance, however, you might know the French fashion designer better for his considerable love affair with denim that would make even Britney and Justin blush. Maybe you know him better for his legendary conical bra, as worn by Madonna on her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour, or perhaps you know him for his penchant for saucy sailors – sartorially speaking, of course. A household name amongst the fashion set and laymen alike, Jean Paul Gaultier has had an illustrious career and celebrated 50 years in fashion at his final couture show yesterday.

Unsatisfied with simply the fashion realm however, the enfant terrible of French fashion has proven himself a veritable jack of all trades. For starters, let me introduce you to a little 1988 dance single entitled How To Do That. A result of the designer's toe dip in the music industry, this glitchy electro-pop track is punctuated by Gautier’s internal dialogue as he struggles for creative inspiration, although you’d be forgiven for mistaking it as Robert Pattinson’s rendition of the French Dauphin in The King. And the music video? Art Attack on acid. You’ll find a bottle blonde Gaultier trapped in a world of cartwheeling scissors and a baby-faced Naomi Campbell in the throes of interpretive dance. Where was my invite?

After dabbling in the world of music, Gaultier went on to try his hand at presenting. Welcome to the Eurotrash era, a late-night Channel 4 review show covering a wide range of cutting edge topics such as porn, singing dogs, magicians and nude cleaning services. Alongside his co-host Antoine de Caunes, the designer presented the show for the majority of the nineties. Whilst he has long since abdicated his role, and left television presenting to the experts (Davina McCall), he did, however, act as jury member for Cannes in 2012 – a natural progression I’d say. His long-awaited brush with the silver screen finally came when he snagged himself a cameo in the 2016 Ab Fab movie, a break out role in which he discovers a half-drowned Kate Moss during a morning jaunt metal detecting, as you do.

In 2012, he appeared on our TV screens again, this time between episodes of Corrie as he attempted to flog the nation his limited-edition Diet Coke bottles brandishing a trio of his signatures: lingerie, sailor stripes and tattoos. In the adverts, he appeared as the puppet master behind Thunderbirds-esque marionettes, who get themselves into all sorts of Carry On style pickles until they are saved with a sip of Coke and the Gaultier charisma. Remnants of his time as creative collaborator for the soft drinks company can still be found on eBay, where you can pick up a set of bottles for a reasonable £70.00.

So, after conquering the fashion, music, film and (breathe) beverage industries, what could be left to achieve for Gaultier the Great? Where could his empire possibly expand next you cry? Well, in 2010, he designed a furniture line for the French brand Roche Bobois. This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill pouffes and crushed velvet sofas, however: this stuff had self-proclaimed 'sex appeal.' With mattress-like couches featuring tattoo prints and depictions of amorous exploits, as well as an hourglass figure floor lamp, the collection is, I believe, the perfect décor for a Mills and Boons-style seduction. Add a figure in a monogrammed smoking jacket holding a whisky decanter and you have yourself a fabulous bachelor pad. Since then, Gaultier has gone on to launch a line of clothing and homeware with Target in Australia. Picture sailor stripe cheese-boards and Breton coffee mugs. The man loves a design signature!

A one man band. A creative virtuoso. Jean Paul Gaultier has had his fingers in many a pie over his lengthy career span. While fashion will always remain his forte, the designer's eagerness to experiment is what makes him such a widely famous name today, applying this same exploratory ethos to his ground-breaking designs. And while styles may change, a certain bottle of torso-shaped perfume will forever remain in our hearts.