French designer Jean Paul Gaultier has announced plans to relaunch the label’s ready-to-wear line with an assist from five guest designers: Ottolinger, Palomo Spain, Alan Crocetti, Lecourt Mansion and Marvin M’Toumo. Titled “Les Marins,” each designer will riff on the designer’s well-known love of sailor-themed attire.
In an exchange with WWD, the label’s general manager Antoine Gagey noted the ready-to-wear collections will not follow a seasonal calendar but rather will drop approximately six-t-10 collections per year. Collections will vary in size and will sometimes include archival styles as well as vintage and upcycled pieces.
An while there will be collaborative pieces by each designers, Gagey notes, “It’s really a team, it’s not five designers,”
The news comes as a relief to fashion lovers who were taken aback last week when the label wiped its Instagram account and uploaded a post simply reading “the end.” Days later, the account followed up with a series of posts announcing a new “collective era” that included campaign imagery featuring model Bella Hadid in the form of a mermaid.
The ready-to-wear line has been brought back after a six-year break brought on by a wish by Gaultier to focus solely on haute couture and his perfume offerings. The decision to relaunch ready-to-wear with guest designers was no doubt inspired by the label’s decision to take a collaborative approach to haute couture collections. Jean Paul Gaultier will debut its first collaborative haute couture collection in July with Sacai designer Chitose Abe at the helm.
Priced from approximately $150-$1,000, Jean Paul Gaultier’s “Les Marins” ready-to-wear offerings will launch on May 28, 2021 on lesmarins.jeanpaulgaultier.com.
Check out two Jean Paul Gaultier looks by Ottolinger below.
