Stay original, or cater to the market?

Johnny Qi
30 nov. 2021
2 min de lecture

When people see Jean Paul Gaultier perfume advertisements, most of them will be drawn to the cinematic story the brand is creating. From the classic Corset girls and the sexy male sailors, to the humorous drama that is put into the latest Scandal series, a good brand has always been a good story teller.

Freedom, wild, love, mystery, sex appeal and drama have always been the key words Jean Paul Gaultier wanted to express. However, in the face of increasingly fierce market competition and capital intervention, more and more consumers are influenced by the brand's business model and social status. How does Jean Paul Gaultier convey coherent brand concepts to consumers through different campaigns?

Jean-paul Gaultier once said in an interview that for today's masses, clothing and products are simply seen as a tool for brand exposure. Brands choose to pay celebrities to wear clothes or use their products for marketing purposes, and the influence of social media has made many people want to be fashion influencers. "I decided to stop publishing my ready-to-wear collection because the world is becoming more and more marketing-oriented." Jean Paul Gaultier admitted. But at the end of the day, is the love for brands still real, or is it all just profitable?

It has always been an unavoidable problem for brands to maintain their original intention or cater to the mass market. In the perfume industry, big brands like Dior, Givenchy and even Chanel have all started their high-end perfume lines. While Jean Paul Gaultier still sticks to the essence of his design concept -- the organic combination of gender and neuter to create a dream world for a specific group of people. Therefore, we can also see gaultier's different designs for different people. Pregnant women, the elderly, transgender people and other groups often appear at his fashion shows, rather than conveying a sense of luxury and sophistication as other brands do.

For Gaultier, bringing new possibilities to a diverse audience through brands is far more important than commercial "success". Seven years after its closure in 2014, Jean Paul Gautier's ready-to-wear collection, featuring the brand's best-known sailor theme “Les Marins”, made a comeback this year.

The first element of the brand strategy is to celebrate the Jean Paul Gaultier brand itself, with an emphasis on brand value, brand history and brand archive.

Can Jean Paul Gaultier take the brand to the next level in today's commercialized world?

by Johnny Qi

30/11/2021

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