His avant-garde fashion grasped the issues facing our society very early on. He launched his first ready-to-wear collection in 1976, then founded his haute couture house in 1997. Curious about all cultures and countercultures, he boldly embraced the spirit of the times, offering a multicultural aesthetic imbued with humanism: reinterpretations, transgressions, metamorphoses, and fusions—he erased boundaries and championed the right to be different, thus conceiving a new way of making and wearing fashion. His immense respect for craftsmanship and elegance also makes him one of the rare couturiers capable of reconciling tradition and avant-garde. Published to mark Jean Paul Gaultier's 35th anniversary in fashion, this book explores, in an innovative and original way, the close ties this uninhibited and generous designer has with the pop-rock music scene (Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, etc.), cinema (Peter Greenaway, Luc Besson, Pedro Almodóvar, Jeunet and Carot), and dance (Régine Chopinot, Angelin Preljocaj), highlighting his eclectic and irreverent sources of inspiration—from the street to the catwalk. Illustrated with photographs by Helmut Newton, Richard Avedon, Bettina Rheims, and others, it also includes interviews with 50 personalities, including Pierre Cardin, Pedro Almodóvar, and Madonna.