Why Jean-Paul Gaultier's collaborative method works so well Anatomy of a project that has brought an entire archive back to life

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.

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.