Jean-Paul Gaultier (Abandoned) - Tapa dura

A fashion designer for the 1990's - and beyond - Gaultier speaks across the generations, both as a versatile designer, and as a spokesman to new markets in television. Jean Paul Gaultier is fashion's polymath, the only designer to have a completely separate and equally high profile career - in addition to designing for men and women he has also become a hugely well known television personality. He is a cut figure with a huge and fanatical following in America, Europe and Japan, not only for his fashions but also for his iconoclasm. But it is his preemincence as a designer which makes Gaultier special. He has been designing for 20 years, and never once has he followed the fashion : he has never been anything less than revolutionary. Colin McDowell, in this authorized, in depth look, explores how this happened.

Colin McDowell is a fashion historian and writer. He is a regular broadcaster on television and radio, and has written for every major newspaper and fashion magazine in London, most frequently for the Sunday Times.