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Vintage Jean Paul Gaultier has become a full-on celebrity obsession, with everyone from Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner to Beyoncé and Cardi B getting in on the act. It’s no wonder, then, that the French brand has decided to rent pieces from its own extensive archive, allowing fans to enjoy a piece of JPG history.
Around 30 pieces from the Gaultier archive will be available to rent, including a satin cage-style evening dress, as well as signature printed styles from the ’80s and ’90s. “Jean Paul Gaultier’s archives are our goldmine,” Antoine Gagey, the brand’s director general, tells Vogue. “We want to take care of them, value them, and share them with our fanbase.”
A vintage Jean Paul Gaultier look that features in the new offering.
Jean Paul Gaultier is also launching resale as part of its new website, from the brand’s famous tartan looks to slinky tops that tap into the current Y2K trend. Upcycled leather jackets, too, form part of the edit, showing the multi-layered approach JPG is taking to extending the life of its garments. “It is time to explore new ways of enjoying fashion: vintage, rental [and] custom can become strategic pillars for our house in the future,” Gagey adds.
It’s a refreshing approach that Gaultier himself, who recently retired after 50 years in the industry, will approve of. “I have come from a generation that scoured flea markets,” he previously told Vogue. “That is where I found a French navy striped shirt that I started wearing, and that became one of my codes. It’s a wonderful thing to give new life to old clothes and to wear them again. In this time of crises and confusion, what could be better? There are too many clothes, and not enough people to wear them.”
A cage-style gown from the JPG archive will be available to rent.
It comes as JPG launches its first ready-to-wear collection for the first time in six years care of new creative director Florence Tétier, again reflecting the booming appetite for the brand at the moment. Pieces reference the brand’s own archive, from its mesh tops to Mona Lisa prints (which we saw on the runways back in the ’90s).
Indeed, there seems to be no stopping the JPG resurgence right now, with Vestiaire Collective reporting in May that searches for vintage Gaultier had risen 300 per cent within six months. You’d better be quick off the mark if you want to get your hands on a piece.
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Originally published on Vogue.co.uk
