The fashion world seems to be lamenting the announcement from Jean Paul Gaultier that he will no longer be producing ready-to-wear. Personally, we’re kind of stoked. Sure it might mean a little downsizing for the brand, but anyone who knows Gaultier’s style knows the designer is much better suited for avant-garde looks, and he’ll be devoting his time entirely to his couture and beauty collections. Of course, rumors are swirling that he just couldn’t hack it in the digital age and that his failing numbers are the cause for the RTW shutdown, but all things considered there is a silver lining. A major part of us loves his toned-downed RTW, but we can only imagine the gorgeous looks we’ll see now that he can let his creative juices really flow.
The announcement means big changes in the company with a “few dozen” job cutbacks and cutting ties with Gibò Co. S.p.A., the production and distribution company for Gaultier’s RTW and many of his contemporaries including Marc Jacobs, Roberto Cavalli and Michael Kors. "We looked at various possibilities considering the present state of the company and we have reached the same conclusion," the designer said in a statement. "For some time, I have found true fulfillment in working on the haute couture and it allows me to express my creativity and my taste for research and experimentation. At the same time the world of ready-to-wear has evolved considerably. Commercial constraints, as well as the frenetic pace of collections don't leave any freedom, nor the necessary time to find fresh ideas and to innovate."
But while it seems to some that the shutdown of a large portion of his brand is akin to admitting defeat to the new rise of fashion in the technological age, fashion insiders and colleges are 100 percent behind him. “He no longer felt at ease in today’s ultracompetitive fashion scene. I think that he might feel like a bit of a fish out of water, with all the current emphasis on competition between one fashion colossus and another — which doesn’t have anything to do with what a designer expresses in terms of creativity,” Franco Penè, Gibò’s owner and chief executive officer, told WWD. “Jean Paul has already contributed so much, he doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone.”
