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Jean Paul Gaultier Announces He Is Retiring, Says Next Fashion Show Will Be His Last

Jean Paul Gaultier’s fashion reign is nearing an end.

The legendary French designer, 67, announced today on Twitter that his next couture show, scheduled for Jan. 22 during Paris Fashion Week, will be his last.

“This show celebrating 50 years of my career will also be my last. But rest assured Haute Couture will continue with a new concept,” he wrote alongside a campy video.

In the clip, Gaultier himself reveals the news during a series of phone conversations.

Hi! This is Jean Paul Gaultier,” he says in French. “I invite you to celebrate my 50 years in fashion at the Théâtre du Châtelet on the 22nd of January. Coming?”

“It’s going to be quite a party with many of my friends and we’re going to have fun until very very late. Now I am going to share something with you. This will be my last Haute Couture show,” Gaultier — who also served as the creative director of the French fashion house Hermès for seven years, before exiting to focus on his own label in 2010 — adds. “Be there! You can’t miss this.”

The designer then clarified that his haute couture line will still exist after his exit. “Stay tuned…Gaultier Paris will go on, the Haute Couture continues!” he said. But he played coy about what we can expect in the future: “I have a new concept. I’ll tell you all about it later … all the little secrets…”

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“To be continued,” he said at the end of the clip while blowing kisses at the camera. “Bisous!”

Dia Dipasupil/WireImage
Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

From inventing the cone bra and designing costumes for Madonna, to experimenting with gender bending designs (way before it was cool!) Gaultier has created countless iconic fashion moments — both on the runway and red carpet — over the course of his five decade-long career.

Gaultier launched his business in 1982 and showed his first couture collection in 1997, according to Business of Fashion.

In 1993, he debuted the Classique eau de parfum, which features a bottle in the shape of a woman’s body without a head, arms or legs, which instantly became a best-seller.

Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty
Bertrand Rindoff Petroff/Getty

He collaborated with Target on an affordable collection in 2009, and was appointed creative director of Diet Coke, in March 2012, according to Vogue. Like fellow fashion legends Karl Lagerfeld and Roberto Cavalli, he redesigned limited-edition bottles of the famous beverage.

Two years later in 2014, Gaultier shuttered his ready-to-wear and menswear collections to focus on his couture line.