Paris (AFP)

Fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier, who in 50 years has revolutionized dress codes and has become one of the symbols of French luxury, will say farewell to Haute Couture fashion shows in Paris on Wednesday to embark on a "new project" with his house.

"On January 22, 2020, I will be celebrating my 50th career in fashion with a major Haute Couture fashion show at the Théâtre du Châtelet. It will also be my last fashion show," the designer said on Friday in a press release sent to AFP.

"But rest assured, the house of Couture Gaultier Paris continues, with a new project which I am the instigator and which will be revealed to you soon", he added, without further details.

This announcement comes in the middle of Paris Fashion Week, just before the opening of the Haute Couture fashion shows which will take over from Monday for men's fashion shows.

The 67-year-old French designer, who had made his debut with Pierre Cardin in particular, is an essential figure in the world of couture, known for having shaken up dress codes in the 80s to the point of being called an iconoclast.

He is the author of creations that have become cult, such as the bustier with conical cups worn by Madonna, or her famous sailor sweater and her sailor shirts, a memory of her grandmother "who dressed her in blue".

Since his first collections, Gaultier has the art of mixing genres, genders, eras, the banter of popular streets and the distinction of beautiful neighborhoods: chic rappers, sleek geishas, ​​corseted casseroles and men in skirts and high heels.

- "Ambivalent wardrobe" -

He created the revolution by being one of the first to parade senior models and overweight or tattooed women. Thus in the 1980s, he placed an ad in the newspaper Liberation: "Non-conforming creator is looking for atypical models. Broken mouths do not abstain".

During Paris Fashion Week in July 2014, he invites to parade the bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, Eurovision winner, as well as a pregnant woman in a wedding dress.

"From your first collection in 1976, you questioned the criteria of taste and bad taste. You shocked, disturbed and annoyed while having fun blurring the lines with an ambivalent and interchangeable wardrobe," said Pierre Cardin. in 2001 by giving him the Legion of Honor.

This accountant's son, who grew up in Arcueil (Val-de-Marne), near Paris, and who was very young introduced to sewing by his esthetician grandmother, thus created skirts for men since 1984 because for him , "a man does not wear his masculinity on his clothes, his manhood is in his head".

Considered in the past as "the terrible child of fashion", his name has become a showcase of French luxury, thanks in particular to his line of perfumes launched in 1991.

He also made himself known for his remarkable costumes for several films, notably "The Fifth Element" by Luc Besson and the films by Pedro Almodovar "Kika", "Bad Education" or "La Piel que habito".

In 2003, his arrival at Hermès, until then the official temple of classic and discreet luxury, shakes up the fashion world: he succeeds in giving it a serious facelift by bringing fantasy and freshness, while remaining within its codes.

Very pop culture, he plays his own role in the film "Prêt-à-Porter" by Robert Altman and with Antoine de Caunes, he hosted the British show Eurotrash.

He also creates costumes for many dance performances including the famous "Le Défilé" (1985) by choreographer Régine Chopinot.

In 2018 he announced that he would give up fur, a "strong gesture" welcomed by associations for the protection of animals, telling AFP that he now preferred the path of recycling. "You have to recycle the clothes, which I did since my beginnings, in my first collection I recycled old jeans, stuff in camouflage, I cut them in all directions. I find that with the fur we can do the same thing, "said the man who told his story in a colorful magazine last year at the Folies Bergère.

© 2020 AFP