Jean Paul Gaultier Soleil S/S 2002 Vintage “Portraits” Mesh Maxi Dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Naples, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1624113214032
Jean Paul Gaultier Soleil
Endeavoring to tear down gender stereotypes and sartorial norms on the catwalk, making underwear outerwear, putting men in skirts and models of all shapes and sizes on the runway, Jean Paul Gaultier has created transformational clothing designs that draw on numerous influences and boldly merge haute couture with street sensibility. The wildly provocative French designer's 1990s diffusion line Soleil is known for semi-sheer pieces that scream rock-star style.
An only child raised in the suburbs of Paris, Gaultier didn’t have a formal fashion education. But he loved to sketch and was drawn to clothing, citing the corsets in his maternal grandmother’s closet as having a formative impact on his creative direction. He’s said that some of his earliest fashion work was for his teddy bear, and later he would send his sketches to designers he revered, including Pierre Cardin.
Gaultier began his career in 1970 as an assistant to Cardin, who admired the sketches the 18-year-old had sent for his appraisal. After Gaultier had his first runway show in 1976, featuring unconventional statements like pairing motorcycle jackets with ballerina skirts, it didn’t take long for his star to rise.
Gaultier's playful but exquisitely crafted reimaginings of classic Parisian styles — the striped mariner shirt, the trench coat — soon became recurring themes of his eponymous house, which he founded with his life partner and business associate Francis Menuge in 1982.
“He was absolutely peerless for the longest time in the late ’80s and early ’90s,” fashion editor Tim Blanks told the New York Times. This was the period of Gaultier’s most iconic designs.
In 1984, Gaultier’s “Boy Toy” collection challenged men’s fashion with striped shirts and skirts — and sold around 3,000 of them. He was hailed for spectacle-laden runway shows and superb tailoring. Gaultier began to work with Madonna during the late 1980s, and, at the pop star’s request, he designed the costumes for her 1990 “Blond Ambition” tour. Her pink corset became a cultural touchstone of the era.
Gaultier continued to expand his brand. There were the colorful all-over graphic prints in the sheer stretch-tulle fabric of his Soleil line — which have gained fans in millennials seeking the authentic, easy style of 1990s fashion — and he debuted his first couture collection in 1997. Gaultier created costumes for film and stage and was nominated for a César Award for Best Costume Design for The City of Lost Children (1995) and then a second for Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element (1997).
From 2003 to 2010, Gaultier was the creative director for Hermès. The first international exhibition of his work, “The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk,” debuted in 2011 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and toured to cities including Stockholm, New York City, Dallas and London. He presented his last ready-to-wear collection in 2014 and in 2020 stepped down from his couture line, ending his boundary-pushing, industry-shaping reign with a raucous show of more than 230 outfits formed from fragments of collections from across his 50-year career.
One of fashion’s enfants terribles, Gaultier has never sought out pretty for pretty’s sake. Instead, he has challenged the traditional ideals of beauty. Today, the designer's vintage clothing designs — experimental undergarments cut from lace and suede, leather-trimmed evening dresses and jackets of denim, plastic or striped jersey — are as punk as they are high fashion.
Browse a wide range of vintage Jean Paul Gaultier Soleil dresses, tops and other clothing on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Naples, FL
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Jean Paul Gaultier F/W 2001 Chain Embellished Abstract Print Slip Evening DressBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Naples, FLJean Paul Gaultier F/W 2001 Chain Embellished Abstract Print Slip Evening Dress Gown IT 42Category
21st Century and Contemporary Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Versace S/S 2005 Runway Seashell Print Belted Wrap DressBy VersaceLocated in Naples, FLVersace S/S 2005 Runway Seashell Print Belted Wrap Dress IT 38 Look 20 from the Spring 2005 Collection.Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Versace F/W 2005 Runway Sheer Lace Panel DressBy VersaceLocated in Naples, FLVersace F/W 2005 Runway Sheer Lace Panel Dress IT 40 Look 36 from the Fall 2005 Collection.Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Versace F/W 2005 Runway Plunging Neckline Ruched Animal Print DressBy VersaceLocated in Naples, FLVersace F/W 2005 Runway Plunging Neckline Ruched Animal Print Dress IT 44 Look 23 from the Fall 2005 Collection. Brown and multicolor Versace silk mini dress...Category
Early 2000s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Roberto Cavalli F/W 2016 Runway Gold Sheer Lace Evening Dress GownBy Roberto CavalliLocated in Naples, FLRoberto Cavalli F/W 2016 Runway Gold Sheer Lace Evening Dress Gown IT 38 Look 29 from the Fall 2016 collection.Category
2010s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Thierry Mugler Couture Vintage Semi-Sheer Open Knit Crochet Maxi Evening DressBy Thierry MuglerLocated in Naples, FLThierry Mugler Couture Vintage Semi-Sheer Open Knit Crochet Maxi Evening Dress Size M FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @OPULENTADDICTCategory
1990s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Versace SS 1995 butterfly runway dressBy Gianni VersaceLocated in London, GBIconic and super rare dress in one of Versaces most iconic prints ever - the butterfly print. This dress in the white butterfly print was worn on the runway...Category
1990s European Cocktail Dresses
- Issey Miyake Brown Gold Fringe Runway Japanese Pleats Please Dress GownBy Issey MiyakeLocated in PARIS, FRIssey Miyake Brown Gold Fringe Deconstructed Shredded Runway Japanese Kimono Geisha Pleats Please Dress Tunic Excellent condition, collector brown/gold fringe Dress...Category
1990s Japanese Evening Gowns
- Jean Paul Gaultier Mesh Nomad Ethnic Tribal Aztec Tattoo Tatouages Indian DressBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in PARIS, FRJean Paul Gaultier JPG Collector Catwalk Mesh Transparent Sheer Nomad Ethnic Tribal Indian Western Aztec Tattoo Tatouages Long Maxi Dress Extremely rare "Tatouages" dress from Jean Paul Gaultier! Museum piece! "Tim Blanks’ Top Fashion Shows of All Time Jean Paul Gaultier, Spring/Summer 1994, October 1993: BoF’s Editor-at-Large journeys back to a show that fused Indian mysticism, 18th century silhouettes...Category
1990s Maxi Dresses
- Mariano Fortuny Claret Delphos. Provenance Tina ChowBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated claret colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording. The beads are amber glass with...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
- Mariano Fortuny Sienna Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated sienna colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Peplos
- Mariano Fortuny Rare Shell Pink Long Sleeved Delphos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYDescription: This dress is made of finely pleated shell pink colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns