At the age of 18, Jean-Paul Gaultier was hired as assistant and
sketch artist at Pierre Cardin: "when I crossed the threshold
of his fashion house, Mother being with me, I was so scared. I
didn't even know what he looked like. He hired me at 500 francs
a month. I accepted. As long as I could work with him. I learned
so much. The year was 1970, at a time when Cardin was someone
very important in the fashion industry, he had already done it
all. But he never stayed static. From one minute to the other,
he might decide to start all over: relegate a scrap of fabric
to the shoe department, bring up a fabric to slip it into his
next collection. Everything was possible. When he opened his Theatre
des Ambassadeurs, I was allowed to design the furniture, the plates".
From Pierre Cardin, Jean-Paul Gaultier learned that fashion is
not a static trade, everything can change at any time until the
eve of the show. "He taught me to find fashion ideas by looking
at what is happening around us, without always having to have
cultural references."
Then Jean-Paul Gaultier went to work for Jacques Esterel where
he stayed one year before entering the fashion house of Patou
as assistant to Michel Goma, and later Angelo Tarlazzi. He then
came back into Pierre Cardin's team who sent him to Manila to
take care of the brand name.
"All of these experiences were beneficial and taught me how to
sew well and play with fabrics, colors, jewelry. For me, fashion
was a discipline. I tried to find new lines. Pierre Cardin taught
me that a garment can stand out through its simplicity, its cut,
its materials, its color."