0:00:00 > 0:00:07It's just gone 4:30am, which means it's time for HARDtalk.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12Welcome to HARDtalk.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16My guest today is the French couture fashion designer,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Jean Paul Gaultier, who is known as the enfant terrible
0:00:19 > 0:00:23of the fashion world for his witty and daring designs.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Now an exhibition of his best-known works is opening here
0:00:25 > 0:00:31at the Barbican in London.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34But how far do his designs like the cone-shaped bra and corset
0:00:34 > 0:00:54dresses help contribute to the sexual objectification of women?
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Jean Paul Gaultier, welcome to HARDtalk.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Thank you.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12What do you think of the label, the 'enfant terrible of the fashion
0:01:13 > 0:01:21world', about you, now you are in your early 60s?
0:01:21 > 0:01:25I should say that now you can't say that, I am the ex-enfant terrible.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28I am now the old man terrible of French fashion!
0:01:28 > 0:01:29Still, a little.
0:01:29 > 0:01:30You don't mind it.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34You were never actually formally trained in design.
0:01:34 > 0:01:35You sent some pictures...
0:01:35 > 0:01:40Some sketches.
0:01:40 > 0:01:40Exactly.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43I didn't go to school.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46To Cardin, on the day I was 18 years old.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49I sent the pictures on the day of my 18 years old.
0:01:49 > 0:02:01Pierre Cardin called my mother and said, "I want to see him."
0:02:01 > 0:02:04When I came back she said, "You have to go to see Cardin."
0:02:04 > 0:02:08I asked her to come with me because I was so frightened
0:02:08 > 0:02:09to go and meet him.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12He said, "How many days can you work?" I was still
0:02:12 > 0:02:13finishing my studies.
0:02:13 > 0:02:14I said three afternoons.
0:02:14 > 0:02:15Say, OK, work.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20An amazing break.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22Laurent didn't get back to you.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25You stayed for a short time with Pierre Cardin and then
0:02:25 > 0:02:26you joined Jacques Esterel.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29A small couture house, very different from Pierre Cardin.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31This was all in the 1970s.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34After, I went to Jean Patou, a bigger, old house.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38It was only the perfumes doing things, but the collection...
0:02:38 > 0:02:41Even representing a show, but it was not selling.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44There was only one customer.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47We had to make special sketches for her.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52But a very famous name.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55You said you were almost chameleon-like when you were there,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58trying to second-guess what kind of designs they wanted.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02When did you find your own style?
0:03:02 > 0:03:05I appreciated the chance to be an assistant,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07because for Cardin, it was easy because he has
0:03:07 > 0:03:09a strong style.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11So I have to work to his style.
0:03:11 > 0:03:20It was the beginning of the '70s...
0:03:20 > 0:03:21He was presenting his shows.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23He was doing furniture.
0:03:23 > 0:03:33He even asked me to do furniture, which I never expected to sketch.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34Anyway, after I left there...
0:03:34 > 0:03:37After I came back to come again working for Pierre Cardin,
0:03:37 > 0:03:42I started my own collection in 1976.
0:03:42 > 0:03:53Little by little, I find what is my style.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55I should say my obsession, more than anything.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58You quickly became known for an edgy, street kind of fashion,
0:03:58 > 0:04:03punk, that kind of thing.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Are you comfortable with being known as the person who has these kinds
0:04:07 > 0:04:13of designs as their signature?
0:04:13 > 0:04:21Definitely, I am proud of it.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24I must say that I have been inspired more by the street,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27the streets of London, than by the jet set.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30In the mid-'70s, the jet set was wearing very boring clothes
0:04:30 > 0:04:37which were not totally inspiring.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41For me, I was preparing to go to the street and see some people
0:04:41 > 0:04:43who are dressing in a more modern way.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44Almost punk-like.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49I was influenced by punk, of course.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53It was something absolutely fabulous and very, like, rebellious.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56I was a little let's say rebellious against French fashion.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59It was very "this is chic, this is not chic." There was no
0:04:59 > 0:05:00sense of humour.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02In London it was completely the opposite.
0:05:02 > 0:05:09Even not street people, they were more...
0:05:09 > 0:05:12With eccentricity, and more like speaking through their clothes.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15One thing you really have become famous for,
0:05:15 > 0:05:22and you started this design on your teddy bear,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24which features in this exhibition, is the cone bra,
0:05:24 > 0:05:25the very pointed bra.
0:05:26 > 0:05:33A long time before I did it for Madonna.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37You did that for the Blonde Ambition tour of Madonna in 1990.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40The pointed bra, the corset, the bodice - it is really...
0:05:40 > 0:05:42You pioneered underwear as outerwear.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46A profile of you in the New Yorker at the time said you unleashed a lot
0:05:46 > 0:05:49of debate about whether this was empowering or enslaving women.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Which was it for you?
0:05:51 > 0:05:56For me it was empowering, because I come from a generation
0:05:56 > 0:05:58after the women's lib, which means a woman,
0:05:58 > 0:06:10they burn their bra.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13OK, I think it's good, because always me, I have in mind
0:06:13 > 0:06:15the values that women are stronger than men.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17For me, it is more clever.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Do you think a lot of people might have said, look,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23the corset, it's very restrictive, it is redolent of a past era?
0:06:23 > 0:06:24Definitely it is.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26So why bring it back?
0:06:26 > 0:06:29The big difference is I proposed the woman to choose if they want
0:06:29 > 0:06:30to wear it themselves.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Not because they are obliged, but because they like it.
0:06:33 > 0:06:41But it's uncomfortable.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Some people do a lot of things that are uncomfortable.
0:06:44 > 0:06:45Would you wear a corset like that?
0:06:45 > 0:06:46Definitely.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48I should now, but not especially at that time!
0:06:48 > 0:06:57For example, I bleached my hair during 20 years.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00I have no more hair almost because of that.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02I suffered to have the blonde hair.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I appreciate that you say that you see women as the stronger sex
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and so on, but nevertheless, you said once you saw a woman
0:07:09 > 0:07:11wearing lacy bra under a Chanel jacket and that's
0:07:11 > 0:07:12all she was wearing.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Do you not think that might contribute to the sexual
0:07:15 > 0:07:16objectification of women?
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Yes, apparently, but it's not at all in the outfit
0:07:18 > 0:07:27because the women are changing around me.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29I am a reflection of what was changing.
0:07:29 > 0:07:38It must be symbolised by Madonna, which was a very strong woman.
0:07:38 > 0:07:39Madonna shows it doesn't exist.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41But she is a big superstar.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45What if a young woman wears the underwear as outerwear?
0:07:45 > 0:07:49It might encourage predatory male sexual attention.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53First, when they wear the miniskirt, people said it was a prostitute.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56After, when they wear the trouser, they said they were ridiculous
0:07:56 > 0:08:04because they wanted to be more like a man.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08It was showing in some way the fact if they wanted to have trousers,
0:08:08 > 0:08:13they had to show that they were like man.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18It is showing they have to pretend to be...
0:08:18 > 0:08:22To make like a carnival, like a man.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25The woman after, then...
0:08:25 > 0:08:35Maybe because they dream about photos of beautiful,
0:08:35 > 0:08:47glamorous women who were sexy and they want to be like that.
0:08:47 > 0:08:54It doesn't mean that I am a slut or whatever.
0:08:54 > 0:09:00Do you think you are trying to make a statement
0:09:00 > 0:09:01about gender or sexuality?
0:09:01 > 0:09:03You have men dressed in a very feminine way,
0:09:03 > 0:09:08women in masculine attire.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11You've made the male pinstripe suit very popular with women.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13Nicolas Ghesquiere, the creative director of Louis Vuitton said
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Jean Paul Gaultier changed so many things in the creative process,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18sexuality and fashion.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Was that your aim?
0:09:21 > 0:09:24I think I contributed to it.
0:09:24 > 0:09:31To say that I changed the view of the woman...
0:09:31 > 0:09:33I should say that people have done that before.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Yves Saint-Laurent, he put women in suits.
0:09:36 > 0:09:47Mixing masculinity and femininity is what I did.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Power and subjection, but as a choice.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53For men, I think I did a little more because my first collection for men
0:09:53 > 0:09:54was called the Male Object.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55Like the woman.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59When I was an adolescent I was very shocked because I was surrounded
0:09:59 > 0:10:02by my mother, my grandmother, they were very nice and clever.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04Afterwards I had some girlfriends who were clever as well.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06They knew what they wanted.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08But you are more than that.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10You bring sexuality into fashion.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13You use bondage, latex...
0:10:13 > 0:10:19You've made that a part of your style, and I suppose that's
0:10:19 > 0:10:22what we mean by bringing sexuality into fashion.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24You've mentioned Madonna, you say you were really
0:10:24 > 0:10:25fascinated by her.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29How important is a muse to you as a designer?
0:10:29 > 0:10:35It is super important.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39I think I became a designer because of a movie I saw on TV,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42a movie from the '40s, when I was not born,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44but I saw it in black and white.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47That movie was speaking about when a designer became crazy
0:10:47 > 0:10:56and in love with his muse.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00When I looked at it again, I say, "I want to do the same job
0:11:00 > 0:11:02as was doing in the movie.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05I want to be like him." I think he has a muse.
0:11:05 > 0:11:06He changed his collection.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09It became beautiful because he was in love with her.
0:11:09 > 0:11:18For me, it was normal.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21It was to make fashion, a fashion show, because in the movie
0:11:21 > 0:11:22there was a fashion show.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24You were inspired by that.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26I have to ask you this, because in April 2012,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30you had a show and you sent in a parade of Amy Winehouse
0:11:30 > 0:11:36lookalikes six months after she died.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Her father said that was in bad taste.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41He said, we are still grieving for her loss.
0:11:41 > 0:11:42Why did you do that?
0:11:42 > 0:11:44I don't think at all it was bad taste.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47My conviction, because I love her, I adore her...
0:11:47 > 0:11:48You never met her, did you?
0:11:49 > 0:11:56I never did, I went to see the only show she did in Paris.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59I am shy, even if I don't look that shy, I saw her,
0:11:59 > 0:12:05she was such an enormous star that I didn't go after her to say hello.
0:12:05 > 0:12:16I love her voice, his style of music but also her look.
0:12:16 > 0:12:17She has a look a little...
0:12:17 > 0:12:18She has a spirit.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20I was influenced by the '50s.
0:12:20 > 0:12:27My looks in the '80s were inspired by the '50s.
0:12:27 > 0:12:28The beehive hair and the heavy eyeliner.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31And also corsetry and tight stilettos, etc.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34It was a mix.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Make it more like a punk, so it was exactly...
0:12:37 > 0:12:47Exactly in the same spirit of what I did in the '80s.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Also for me, she was a fashion icon.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52She was the only one going against fashion, copying nobody.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57So I respected that.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59You liked her style.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03We talked about how you like street fashion, and your exhibition
0:13:03 > 0:13:16at the Barbican is called From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Yet you have worked with very couture name, like Hermes.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22How do you reconcile your edgy, street fashion and yet work
0:13:22 > 0:13:24in a very conventional house like that?
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Isn't it a bit of a contradiction?
0:13:26 > 0:13:27Not at all.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29It was a complete contradiction at the beginning.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Maybe when I started my first collection in '76, maybe Hermes
0:13:32 > 0:13:33was the opposite of myself.
0:13:33 > 0:13:43I am coming from a suburb of Paris where, to be honest,
0:13:43 > 0:13:49there were not very many women wearing a Kelly bag.
0:13:49 > 0:13:55So you went to Hermes in the early 2000s.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00So yes, I went there.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05And I started to make the collection before,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09with was one ex of my assistants, a very talented designer.
0:14:09 > 0:14:15But how do you reconcile being an enfant terrible and working
0:14:15 > 0:14:18with a conventional house like that, doing the haute couture?
0:14:18 > 0:14:20It was very interesting, like a challenge for me.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22For example, I was the opposite.
0:14:22 > 0:14:28Letter by letter, I did haute couture.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33But for me, I have to mix my style, which means my Gaultier
0:14:33 > 0:14:35style, let's say, to Hermes.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39But first I had to work for Hermes, and make the little things
0:14:39 > 0:14:40I could bring to it.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43But in this day and age, who can afford the real haute
0:14:43 > 0:14:49couture, when one dress can cost 50,000 euros?
0:14:49 > 0:14:52You're talking about maybe a couple of thousand women globally,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55who might send a private plane and say,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58let me see your latest collection, make me a dress like that.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03But very few people can afford it.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05When I started, I saw only haute couture on TV,
0:15:06 > 0:15:13again.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16I saw the image of hate couture, so it was a dream.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20And at one moment, when I was not doing Dior, I wanted a little
0:15:20 > 0:15:24studio for myself.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27I will put that money to make my own haute couture.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29I made it only one time.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34But in reality, I sold one outfit to Nicole Kidman,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37and another one to a woman with a dress.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39That is just behind you, the one
0:15:39 > 0:15:40with the sailor stripes.
0:15:40 > 0:15:41Another signature dress.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45For a wedding.
0:15:45 > 0:15:55But it does not make money, does it?
0:15:55 > 0:15:57It doesn't make money, that really high haute couture?
0:15:58 > 0:15:59It does not make so much money.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03But I should say that in some ways, it is an incredible idea.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07I made a collection a long time ago, which was more open to more people.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11In reality, to make couture, it's interesting because you can be
0:16:11 > 0:16:13experimental about fabric and techniques.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17But you need to sell to the masses and your late partner,
0:16:17 > 0:16:28Francis Menuge, who tragically died in 1990 of an AIDS-related illness,
0:16:28 > 0:16:33really encouraged you to build your empire, and to make money,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36to go into fragrance, and that kind of thing.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40You owe him a great deal.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Definitely, it was fabulous.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46He was absolutely fabulous, and very creative, and more
0:16:46 > 0:16:54of a businessman than me.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58He told me before he died, because he was thinking about living
0:16:58 > 0:17:01still, he said we should do haute couture and I said, why?
0:17:01 > 0:17:13And he said, yes, but you know, it is good, because luxury
0:17:13 > 0:17:19I didn't do it to create an empire, but I made perfume,
0:17:19 > 0:17:25which was good for going on, and can help.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28But I never wanted to create an empire for myself.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Only to make my collection of nice clothes
0:17:30 > 0:17:31that people appreciate.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35But profitability is important.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38And yet there is a bit of a contradiction,
0:17:38 > 0:17:41because when you were advertising for models for one show,
0:17:41 > 0:17:46you said conventionally pretty models need not apply.
0:17:46 > 0:17:55And you are famous for using models of all shapes, sizes,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58colours, ages, older people, and all that kind of thing.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00And yet you also managed to sell your product.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02How do you manage to do that?
0:18:02 > 0:18:05Most people, when they look at magazines, they do not
0:18:05 > 0:18:07want to see themselves.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09They want to see something that is desirable,
0:18:09 > 0:18:10that is perfection.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13But I think many people can open their minds to see
0:18:13 > 0:18:17that there is not only one type of beauty.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20When I started, there were only Swedish models that were in fashion,
0:18:20 > 0:18:21in the beginning of the '70s.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25So I remember that one girl came, she came from America
0:18:25 > 0:18:27and she was black, and she had bleached hair.
0:18:27 > 0:18:35And I found her fabulous, and wanted her make the show.
0:18:35 > 0:18:43But the artistic director said, no, no, you know the American people,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47they are racist, they will not appreciate it.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49But I said, my God, I do not care.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52And I said, there are no clients, no American clients,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54no French clients, so why not?
0:18:54 > 0:18:56So I always try to show different beauty.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01And in my show, myself, I always choose the models.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04I once chose an Algerian model, and she was completely,
0:19:04 > 0:19:05completely...
0:19:05 > 0:19:07She had a different attitude and look.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09Very modern.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11For me, she was perfect.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14In some ways, my only pretension is to be sure
0:19:14 > 0:19:16of what I like about people that impressed me.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20When I say what I find beautiful, even if some people do not
0:19:20 > 0:19:22like their beauty, for me it's more interesting,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25and I insist.
0:19:25 > 0:19:26Sure, but you're not changing things.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30It has been said that what sells is, broadly speaking, a middle
0:19:30 > 0:19:39view of what beauty is.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43And people say actually the obsession with zero-size models
0:19:43 > 0:19:45is worse than it was in the 1980s,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48when you had supermodels like Cindy Crawford and models
0:19:48 > 0:19:50that weren't stick-thin.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53And at that time in the '80s, I said the same.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55In fashion, things are coming and going back.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57It will come back.
0:19:57 > 0:20:05I do not say that to be with more shape is the best,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08and to have no shape is the worst, and vice versa.
0:20:08 > 0:20:09I do not say that.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11I think it is a different type of beauty.
0:20:12 > 0:20:13But your message is not getting through.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15Kirsty Clements, the Australian Vogue editor,
0:20:15 > 0:20:22says that we still have stylists and editors who seem to prefer
0:20:23 > 0:20:25models to be young, coltish, six-foot-tall, and built
0:20:25 > 0:20:26like a prepubescent boy.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29To be honest, I must say that is not what I think.
0:20:29 > 0:20:35I think there is a taboo about getting old.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Like there is no beauty to be old.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39It is wrong, completely wrong.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42How can I find that to be fat and old is ugly,
0:20:42 > 0:20:47in the fact that my grandmother was absolutely fabulous,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49and she loved me, and she was fantastically
0:20:49 > 0:20:54beautiful, for me?
0:20:54 > 0:20:56So of course, now, I want to represent that.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59There are some people who can be old and I always present,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03not in every show, but some people that are beautiful and are old.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07And some fat people.
0:21:07 > 0:21:13I used one model...
0:21:13 > 0:21:18But why do you think it is still like this?
0:21:18 > 0:21:22I should say that Nathalie Bondil, the director of the Montreal Museum
0:21:22 > 0:21:24of Fine Arts, who was responsible for persuading
0:21:24 > 0:21:26you to have this exhibition, she says that with globalisation
0:21:27 > 0:21:29of aesthetic standards, growing numbers are being exposed
0:21:29 > 0:21:31to the tyrannical obsession of retouched photos,
0:21:31 > 0:21:31displaying unreal bodies.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Asian eyes, Western eyes, skin whitened,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35wrinkles smoothed away as if they are
0:21:35 > 0:21:42politically incorrect.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Why is the world of fashion like this?
0:21:44 > 0:21:46It has always been crazy.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49I think what I should say is that I have nothing
0:21:49 > 0:21:53but criticism about it.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56The only critique I have about it is I think the notion
0:21:57 > 0:22:04of only one kind of fashion should not exist anymore.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08I mean, like, now we are - there is a different morphology
0:22:08 > 0:22:11of people.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Now all the world is travelling, and we see a different type
0:22:14 > 0:22:17of beauty, ethnic, and we can appreciate it.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19I think it is changing little by little.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22I think if you look at the young, they are more open-minded,
0:22:22 > 0:22:23maybe, than the ones that
0:22:23 > 0:22:26are not that young.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29I must put it to you, because the daughter of the Italian
0:22:29 > 0:22:31designer Emilio Pucci has said that Italy
0:22:31 > 0:22:33needs young designers who are going to generate
0:22:34 > 0:22:35excitement and create new categories of product.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39The problem in Italy is that you have designers over the age
0:22:39 > 0:22:41of 70 who are still holding onto their position.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Is it time for an older generation of designers to make way
0:22:44 > 0:22:52for the younger generation?
0:22:52 > 0:22:54Well, firstly, I am not 70!
0:22:54 > 0:22:58But I must say that I'm sure there is a place for the young.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00Definitely.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05Already, I must say that I feel incredible that I am still here.
0:23:05 > 0:23:15Honestly, when I see the designers of my generation,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19a lot of change of life.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Even my assistant, who was a Belgian designer and came
0:23:23 > 0:23:26out in the '90s, he quit, and he is some years
0:23:26 > 0:23:29younger than me.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31So I think, of course, it will come around.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36I was not making you 70, but finally and briefly,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39you have this exhibition of your work, this is the eighth
0:23:39 > 0:23:42venue for it.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Are you a living designer, changing all the time,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47or do your pieces belong in a museum?
0:23:47 > 0:23:56I think that in some ways it does not belong in a museum.
0:23:56 > 0:24:03By the fact that, when I see young that there are some young designers
0:24:03 > 0:24:09that are very much inspired by the old clothes that
0:24:09 > 0:24:13I did, when I see that they are some things that you could wear now,
0:24:13 > 0:24:15I feel very comfortable in that.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19I think that is a good thing, but in reality, it is still going!
0:24:19 > 0:24:21When I retire, maybe I will still continue.
0:24:21 > 0:24:22So that's excellent.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Jean-Paul Gaultier, thank you very much for coming on the programme.