Maison wants to attract a new audience by renting cone brassiere corsets, cage-style dresses and other rentals.
You don’t have anything to wear Fashion fans have been invited to slip into a piece of history as Jean Paul Gaultier launches a rental service of some of its most iconic designs.
Clients will be able borrow from the archive of more than 33,000 pieces that France’s beloved designer, enfant terrible, created during his 50-year career. This move is expected to place the French fashion house at forefront of luxury retail’s new dawn.
The new service will launch on Wednesday and feature a rotating collection of pieces from the 1980s to 90s. This includes the Eurotrash presenter’s famous cage dress as well as the satin cone brassiere corsets which Madonna wore during her Blond Ambition tour.
Rentable will be a studded denim look taken from Gaultier’s charmingly off-the wall menswear collection.
Gaultier hopes to expand its brand’s reach and attract a younger generation with prices that range from EUR150 (PS126), for a scarf, to EUR700 for the short term let of an evening dress.
A vintage section, where customers can purchase pre-loved items with the Gaultier label, was also launched as part of the new house strategy.
The brand will offer 50 vintage items, sourced from private clients or resellers, for sale on its website.
After much interest in Gaultier’s vintage offerings on release sites such as Vestiare Collective or Depop, the decision was made to launch an in-house vintage collection. The most sought-after vintage piece is the corset from the French house.
Jean Paul Gaultier’s decision to purchase this market is a fresh start. Since Jean Paul Gaultier’s retirement from the catwalk in 2019, the maison has operated without its founder designer.
Gaultier is aiming to compete with a new breed fashion superbrand under the direction of Antoine Gagey and Florence Tetier, its newly appointed creative director.
This strategy involves delivering drops rather than traditional seasonal fashion collections. It also works with a group of hype-beast collaborators.
Gagey stated to WWD that she wanted to “explore new ways of purchasing and experiencing fashion through mixing in the same platform.”
Although fast-fashion outlets like Boohoo or Misguided continue their appeal to young people, the rental and resale market for fashion is expanding, especially at the luxury end.
As an alternative to fast fashion, UK-based rental websites such as Mywardrobe.com, and By Rotation have been compared.
Carrie Johnson, who rented her dress for her wedding to the prime minster, has endorsed the rental sector. It is estimated that it will be worth PS2.3bn in 2029. This sector has been hailed as a solution to fashion’s current environmental crisis.
