John Paul Gaultier

John Paul Gaultier started his career by sending his sketches to famous couture stylist at an early age. In 1970 Pierre Cardin

was impressed by his talent and hired him as an assistant, despite never having received formal training as a designer. Afterwards, he worked with Jacques Esterel in 1971 and also Jean Patou later that year, then returning to manage the Pierre Cardin boutique in Manila in 1974.

Gaultier’s first collection was released in1976 and his

characteristics irrevert style date from 1981, risqué collaborations like Madonna’s infamous cone-shaped bra for the 1990 blond ambition tour gave the designer his “enfant terrible” reputation. Many of his following collections have mainly been based on street wear, focusing more on popular culture.

In addition to the clothes now licensed by Aeffe and including menswear, Gaultier created a successful fragrance line, packaged in his signature torso-shaped bottles. In 1991, Hermes bought 35% of Gualtier's company, which gave the brand enough capital to open up more stores in East Asia. In 2004 Hermes hired him as head women’s wear designer for the label.