Jean Paul Gaultier: eras and labels explained

Jean Paul Gaultier never sold his clothes under one name. There was the main line, a younger line, a denim line, a unisex line, and they started and stopped in different years. That sounds like a problem, but for a buyer it is a gift: the label on a piece is often the quickest way to place it in time.

1976 to 1990: the beginning

Pierre Cardin hired Gaultier as an assistant in 1970. He showed his first collection under his own name in 1976 and founded his label in 1982. Two ideas from the following years stayed with him for good: the 1983 collection Boy Toy brought back the striped sailor top (the marinière) for men, and in 1984 he put men in skirts on the runway.

In 1990 he designed the costumes for Madonna's Blond Ambition World Tour, including the cone bra.

The labels and their years

These are the names you will find sewn into the clothes, and when each one was in use:

• Jean Paul Gaultier (also Femme and Homme): the main ready-to-wear line shown on the Paris runway.
• Junior Gaultier: the younger, lower-priced line, 1988 to 1994.
• Gaultier Jean's: denim and simpler pieces, from 1992.
• JPG by Gaultier: a unisex line that replaced Junior Gaultier in 1994.
• Jean's Paul Gaultier: replaced Gaultier Jean's, 2004 to 2008.

One trap: the Junior Gaultier name was used again from 2009, this time for children's clothing. An adult Junior Gaultier piece is from 1988 to 1994.

An adult Junior Gaultier piece is from 1988 to 1994. From 2009 the name was used for children's clothing.

The 1990s runway

The pieces collectors look for most come from the main line in the 1990s. Les Tatouages, for spring/summer 1994, showed tattoo prints on sheer mesh and is where his tattoo tops first appeared. The autumn/winter 1995 collection is known among collectors for its optical dot prints, usually listed as "cyber dots".

Gaultier showed his first haute couture collection in 1997.

1999 to 2011: the Hermès years

Hermès bought 35% of the house in 1999 and later raised its share to 45%. From 2003 to 2010 Gaultier was also creative director of Hermès womenswear, where he followed Martin Margiela, his own former assistant. In 2011 Hermès sold its share to the Spanish group Puig, which became the majority owner.

2014: the end of ready-to-wear

Gaultier showed his last ready-to-wear collection, for spring/summer 2015, in Paris on 27 September 2014, and closed the ready-to-wear labels to concentrate on couture. This is why runway ready-to-wear from the house stops at that season.

2020 to today

Gaultier's own last couture show was in January 2020, marking 50 years in fashion. After that each couture collection was designed by a guest. There were eight: Chitose Abe of Sacai, Glenn Martens, Olivier Rousteing, Haider Ackermann, Julien Dossena, Simone Rocha, Nicolas Di Felice and Ludovic de Saint Sernin.

In April 2025 the Dutch designer Duran Lantink was named permanent creative director for both couture and ready-to-wear. His first ready-to-wear collection was for spring/summer 2026.

What the label tells you

Put together, the label gives you a date range before you have looked at anything else:

• Junior Gaultier on an adult piece: 1988 to 1994.
• Gaultier Jean's: 1992 to about 2004.
• JPG by Gaultier: 1994 or later.
• Jean's Paul Gaultier: 2004 to 2008.
• Main line runway ready-to-wear: spring/summer 2015 at the latest, until the house's return to ready-to-wear under Duran Lantink.

There is no official date code on Gaultier clothing, so the label and the care tag are the evidence. If you want a second opinion on a piece, ask us in the chat.