Last week, Jean-Paul Gaultier ‘s Instagram page deleted his profile picture; He published a post in which only The End could be read; while in his bio, the phrase in his Instagram bio, The End of an Era, stood out. The post made Gaultier’s 2.8 million followers worry. They were convinced that they were receiving the announcement of a definitive closure of the brand or in any case a goodbye to social media.
Yesterday, however, the brand shared a reel entitled Future is Collective which lists the names of brands that Gaultier’s company is supposed to work with in the future. Sacai opens the selection, and in fact, the brand’s creative director, Chitose Abe, has been invited to direct one of the brand’s couture seasons. The other brands mentioned are Ottolinger, Palomo, Alan Crocetti, Pierre Hardy, Nicolas Lecourt Mansion. But also the accessories brand D’Heygere, the singer Bambounou, the retailer SSENSE, the production company Bureau Betak, and the creative studio Bureau Future.
The names mentioned in the reel are deliberately disparate and presented in a flash, almost like it was a teaser trailer. But according to the post caption, more brands are expected to be added in the future. What can be deduced from the title Future is Collective is that the brand’s new direction will be similar to that of a collective. There will be a rotation of designers and creative directors who will propose different collections or product lines under the brand’s logo (and this would explain the presence of luxury brands specialized in accessories and jewelry); or with real teamwork, with individual brands/designers who will be in charge of the various departments developed by the brand, such as accessories, perfumes, ready-to-wear, etc.
After Gaultier himself announced his retirement from the scene last year, the designer stressed that the brand would adopt a new model. He would welcome new designers from season to season in charge of reinterpreting the house codes. We believe the time has come.
