Clothes are expensive. You have to buy them, and to buy them, you have to believe in them.
Jean Paul GaultierAll of my life shown me that if you wanted something enough, if you were passionate enough, it would happen.
Jean Paul GaultierFor me, difference is beautiful, there is not only one beauty, and in a collection I always like to show mixed directions. When you look at people or things, there are all these codes and standards that come into play around what is considered ugly or beautiful, and I've always questioned that. When you're a kid, you're not conditioned, you don't see perversity, there's a state of innocence where everything is beautiful, you see differently....I am lucky because I am doing now what I dreamt of doing as a child, and I like to think that I've retained a childlike state of mind.
Jean Paul GaultierI have loved corsets since I was small. When I was a child, my grandmother took me to an exhibition, and they had a corset on display. I loved the flesh color, the salmon satin, the lace.
Jean Paul GaultierI know what I am able and not able to do. Fashion? OK. Fashion... clothes in theatre, in an opera, in a concert - all that I love. To make a movie myself... no!
Jean Paul GaultierI don't know exactly what is my impact, but I can say I am doing fashion my own way.
Jean Paul GaultierWhat is masculine and what is feminine, anyway? Why should men not show that they can be fragile or seductive? I am only happy when there is no discrimination.
Jean Paul GaultierTo show the relativity of what's good taste and what's not is something I like to play with.
Jean Paul GaultierI went to London a lot as a young designer because London was a major inspiration, not only for the clothes but the sense of freedom. I remember going to see a stage production of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in the mid Eighties and loving the mix of Goth and humor, and in my shows I've always liked to play jokes and have fun.
Jean Paul GaultierClothes became my attraction and obsession early. I wasn't so interested in dressing myself because I was not my object of desire.
Jean Paul GaultierMy clothes have always been expensive. Even though I have had a few lower-priced lines over the years, little by little everything I do tends toward the luxury market.
Jean Paul GaultierI am impressed by the way Annie Kevans captured the different types of beauties that have been my inspiration and my muses from my grandmother to artists like David Bowie and Boy George.
Jean Paul GaultierThe great thing about American women is their energy and the way they love to dress. French women don't really dress; they are too conservative, as it's always a question of money. In America, women are powerful and strong, determined. If they want to be an object, they choose to be in control.
Jean Paul GaultierI don't like dreams or reality. I like when dreams become reality because that is my life.
Jean Paul GaultierIt's good that there is more support of diversity but there is still a lot of resistance. I never saw it as fighting for a cause, though, for me it was spontaneous, I was doing what felt natural to me. I felt a part of it. I have always been attracted to what is new, interesting, funny, creative, the good things that were happening at that time in the world.
Jean Paul GaultierWhen I started in fashion, I had already adopted the sailor-striped sweater as my uniform; that way, I wouldn't have to drive myself crazy trying to figure out what to wear.
Jean Paul GaultierThe shock of the way I mix patterns and fabrics can be disconcerting, but what I am trying to do is provoke new ideas about how pieces can be put together in different ways. I think this is a more modern way to wear clothes that in themselves are fairly classic.
Jean Paul GaultierFashion is about what you look like, which translates to what you would like to be like.
Jean Paul GaultierI am very lucky because I am realizing my childhood dreams, and after presenting my shows it's like a party.
Jean Paul GaultierI could say that making clothes is my way of communicating, because I was always so shy.
Jean Paul GaultierI have always been drawn to designing fashions that are rebellious, like black leather jackets on suburban kinds, a corset dress, punk, blue jeans. I love that. Fashion changes all the time, and what is considered extreme or elegant or luxurious (or not luxurious) is changing all the time.
Jean Paul GaultierI love and admire everyone who is different. I love that. The 'jet set' is banal. 'Good taste' is banal. Eccentricity is chic. Good taste paralyzes. But punk or street fashion or a tattoo-covered body, that is interesting to me, and that I love. I didn't go to fashion school. I learned from watching couture shows on TV and reading magazines. That made me dream.
Jean Paul GaultierYou see me, I wanted to be fashion designer. I became fashion designer. So I think that everything is possible.
Jean Paul GaultierI like the dynamism and the joy cabare creates. I have always taken my job very seriously, but have always liked to have fun, to play. I like tradition and classicism but I have always liked to mix it up, even if it shocks at times.
Jean Paul GaultierI would like to say to people, open your eyes and find beauty where you normally don't expect it.
Jean Paul GaultierWhen I first started to do fashion shows I didn't have the budget to hire top models so I would cast women who inspired me, and ask them to walk how they walked. I was doing a mise en scène, which for me was normal. I love for people to see my clothes, but it was more about the attitude of the girls. The revues of the late 19th century/early 20th century were very much a reflection of what was happening in society and politics, and for me that is also the role of the fashion designer.
Jean Paul Gaultier