The Belgian Glenn Martens revisits Jean Paul Gaultier

The collection produced by the Belgian has been a resounding success, and marks a second collaboration for Jean Paul Gaultier since he retired two years ago after 50 years in the business. From now on, the Parisian couturier is inviting young designers to revisit the DNA of his iconic enterprise. 

Today, it is Glenn Martens, the artistic director of Y/Project and the Italian brand, Diesel, who is taking over the keys to the business. And he knows this business well, since he has already worked for Jean Paul Gaultier at the end of his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he graduated first in his class. A school where he learned to ask questions of himself, to understand who he is and what he had to say. We discover an experimental and avant-garde Martens, who does not hesitate to make references to architecture and Flemish art history in his creations, which he then makes resonate with urban cultures and street-wear.

The Belgian has honoured his former master by revising "in his own way" the codes which brought about the success of Jean-Paul Gaultier. The models are dressed sometimes in sheath dresses, sometimes in marinières or flesh-coloured corsets, the signature of the designer. Glenn Martens does not fail to bring his "Belgian touch" to each creation: if he uses sailor stripes, he decontextualises them on items which reflect his own universe. The same goes for the corset, worn over a trouser skirt or ball gowns.