In 1988 Gaultier expanded his brand to include the label Junior Gaultier, a lower-priced line to attract a younger market. That year a Junior Gaultier outfit of a denim ‘pinafore’ and mesh dress was selected by Jeff Banks from the BBC’s The Clothes Show, as the Dress of the Year.
In 1989, Jean-Paul Gaultier designed costume designs for Peter Greenaway’s film “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover’. The shoes below are from the FW 1988-89 “Robin Des Bois” collection and I bought them from an extra who wore them in the film. This makes me wonder what other Junior Gaultier items were featured in the movie.
In 1978 for his first collection, Gaultier partnered with Japanese clothing manufacturer Kashiyama. In 1981 Gaultier changed his partner and Kashiyama continued to produce Gaultier products under licence for Japan and the Far East. In 1989 Kashiyama took a 60 per cent stake in Junior SpA, the Italian manufacturer of the Junior Gaultier line.
In April 1994 Gaultier president Donald Potard announced that the house would be ending its license with Kashiyama for the Junior Gaultier collection and discontinuing the line, making the fall-winter season the last for Junior Gaultier.
Following the news of Jean Paul Gaultier signing a license with Stile Moda of Italy to produce a new unisex line for women and men called JPG, Potard went on to tell Women’s Wear Daily “The aim is to create a line that’s moderately priced and sportswear-oriented. In a sense, we want to get back to what Junior Gaultier was in the beginning — a youthful line that was produced in industrial quantities. Instead, Junior Gaultier got too far away from its original idea and became too expensive.”
The Junior Gaultier name was reused in 2009 for a children’s wear line, which can confuse! Take a look at the collections that the Junior Gaultier line has appeared in.
