Jean Paul Gaultier

French designer and "enfant terrible" Jean Paul Gaultier has reigned as a fashion iconoclast since the early 1980s. At 18, Gaultier began an apprenticeship in the house of Pierre Cardin, which led to successive apprenticeships with other noted designers before he established his own label and debuted his first collection of women's fashions in 1976. Gaultier set up his own shop in 1982, debuted his men's collection in 1984, and opened his first Paris boutique in 1986. He expanded his brand to include perfume — marketed in his now iconic corset-shaped bottles — and accessories in 1993, and launched his first haute couture collection in 1997. In 2003, he joined Hermès as creative director and, with the support of the legacy Paris fashion house, opened boutiques across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Gaultier's irreverent, rebellious collections destabilize social categories and conventions, blurring masculine and feminine elements. Broad-shouldered jackets, trench coats, baggy pants, flowing skirts, and horizontally striped sailor's shirts became his signature. Creator of Madonna's costumes for her 1990 Blond Ambition tour, including the legendary conical corset, Gaultier has also designed costumes for films by celebrated directors Pedro Almodóvar and Luc Besson. He is the recipient of the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, one of France's highest honors, and has also been recognized with awards from the CFDA (Best International Designer) and the French Press Association (Globe de Cristal).