Jean Paul Gaultier named Shayne Oliver as its next guest designer for ready-to-wear. The Hood By Air co-founder (who left the brand last year) plans to launch the big reveal of the collection on May 6.
According to the Business of Fashion, the drop will include about 50 pieces. The range reimagines the Gaultier brand, melding it with Oliver’s streetwear aesthetic. “I didn’t want the collection to be about swag-ifying something high brow. It felt more organic for me to critique the things I find important in the modern wardrobe, and amplify that,” the guest designer told BoF. The garments, which drop the same night as the Met Gala, embody a “utilitarianism, femininity, power and play.”
This design perspective makes sense. As Fashionista reports, in 2023, when he departed Hood By Air, Oliver explained that he appreciates “things that are highly accessible,” but also values “high-end concepts.” His collaboration with the Puig-owned brand seems like it’ll serve as a vehicle for this perspective, though prices have yet to be revealed.
While Jean Paul Gaultier stopped making his own ready-to-wear in 2014 and the founding designer’s last haute couture collection was in 2020, its guest designer program has become a sensation: Simone Rocha, Rabanne’s Julien Dossena and Diesel’s Glenn Martens have designed haute couture, while KNWLS has created ready-to-wear.
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