Why Jean-Paul Gaultier's collaborative method works so well

The Haute Couture week that ended last Thursday in Paris was yet another proof of how the pandemic has changed fashion. Between restrictions and a lockdown that has become an internalized feeling more than an extraordinary measure, they questioned our way of understanding luxury and our opportunities to show it off. And what more fitting symbol when it comes to luxury than Haute Couture? Hand embroideries, kilometer-long aftermaths and scenographic catwalks have left (in part) to the normalization of pomp. If Chanel has focused on simplicity, Daniel Roseberry of Schiaparelli has opted for rigorous and semi-monastic silhouettes in the choice of colors, yet perhaps the most successful mix between past and present, between high and low, has been the interpretation of the archive of Jean Paul Gaultier by Glenn Martens in a riot of corsets and maritime fantasies with theatrical atmospheres, which, even at the height of excess, somehow express normality.

Glenn Martens, the original and imaginative talent behind Y/Project and creative director of Diesel, has added the latest Jean Paul Gaultier Couture collection to his busy schedule. The concept of celebration was the basis of the collection, strewn with tributes to the brand's past catwalks: the tattoos and piercings of the spring of 1994 and the clothes of the Orthodox Jews of the autumn of 1993, in addition to the ostrich feather patterns and the corsets made with satin ribbons, they brought Gaultier's heritage to the contemporary in a completely new guise, in which however the contribution of Glenn and the starting point of Gaultier are recognized, perhaps much more than in the SS21 curated by Chitose Abe. In January 2020, the enfant terrible of French fashion announced his retirement from the scene after a 50-year career with a spectacular show-party of well over 150 looks made up of cult pieces of the Maison worn by the muses of all time, from Anna Cleveland to Dita Von Teese. In the same year, after six years dedicated exclusively to high fashion and fragrances, the designer also announced the unexpected return to prêt-à-porter.

Jean Paul Gaultier's house has returned to ready-to-wear with rotating creative teams and a digital first business model. The first product drop, a collection dedicated to the theme of Gaultier's fetish sailor, reinterpreted by young fashion talents such as Ottolinger, debuted with the dual purpose of putting the spotlight on emerging companies and monetizing the immense archive of the brand by giving them new lymph. A form of patronage and at the same time a takeover which offers a completely innovative model to the classic way of understanding I collaborate with them. A similar strategy was adopted for Couture: each year a different designer would have had access to the keys of the maison's archive with the aim of creating a four-handed collection with Florence Térier, creative director of the brand. A first attempt was made last year by Sacai's creative director, who presented a collection full of homages to the French designer and also continued her collaboration with Nike with the Jean Paul Gaultier x Sacai x Nike Vaporwaffle capsule, workig with Pierre Hardy too for boots inspired by Gaultier's famous corsets, as well as a limited edition of Jean Paul's original fragrance.

An initiative which therefore involved every area of ​​Gaultier consumption and which contributed to a new golden age for the brand's archive. According to Vestiare Collective, in fact, in the same year searches for items from past collections increased by 570% in the last six months and sales for the first quarter of 2020 signal + 30% thanks also to the numerous celebrities who wore vintage Gaultier dresses, including Kendall Jenner, Dua lipa, Kim Kardashian, Bella Hadid and FKA Twigs. A mentorship model that has a kinship bond with other and different mentorship initiatives in the fashion world: from the well-known story of Virgil Abloh with Samuel Ross and Heron Preston to designers such as Ujoh and Yoshio Kubo hosted on various occasions by Giorgio Armani for Milan Fashion Week, passing through the capsule co-signed by Alessandro Dell'Acqua and Nensi Dojaka and for the social media support that Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino agreed to Marco Rambaldi. What distinguishes the Gaultier method is a profitable partnership program for both parties that has made a historic brand like Gaultier known and loved by Gen Z and at the same time crowned the most promising emerging talents of the fashion system.