From his youth, Jean-Paul Gaultier has stored images, sounds, colors which will never leave him and are always reinterpreted in his collections. The Eiffel Tower is at the heart of his imaginary world, its shape, its materials, its bolts, its mythology. Paris of the Eiffel Tower, Paris of films by Marcel Carné, flowing silhouettes, berets, cigarettes, bandannas around the neck of pimps, Paris of 50's television with Jean-Christophe Averty, his graphic games and his sense of humor, and finally, Paris of the accordion with Yvette Horner. Paris and its folklore, but mostly the Paris of eclectic mixes, macadam-grown hybrids.

"My inspiration is a type of patchwork of the objects I love" he has explained, and his first collection in 1977 included the seed of every ingredient that would become his style: tutus and Perfecto leather jackets, imitation leather, waistcoats like an unfinished embroidery canvas, tea infusers substituted for earrings, faucet necklaces?

Since childhood, recycling has been predominant (the famous tin can found in the garbage transformed into a bracelet): the nylon of baby dolls, leatherette (James Bond, F/W 79-80), materials from everyday life like tablemats, bread baskets or multi-colored plastic door screens, metallic objects (High Tech, F/W 80-81), wood imitations in non-woven clothing (Eté papier, S/S 81).

His colors are always reminiscent of technicolor films and other shades faded under the sun in his grandmother's apartment. No primary colors, but sepia tones, the ochre of film posters, opera reds, bottle green, salmon pink and black, a black used in the Juliette Greco dress he celebrated with his existentialist friends (Paris Gaultier, F/W 82-83).

The clothing belongs to the Parisienne's wardrobe: the short or long trench coat, that may be worn over bare skin, the velvet Perfecto worn over knickers, the tutu and a leather bomber jackets. The clothes are undermined, worn differently, cut and pasted in a new manner. The trench coat is made of gold and opens on the corset dress, the evening dress is made of chiffon to get a better look at garter/braces, Parisian chic - which comes from the personality of a woman who is clever about putting her clothes together - has found a new form of expression.