Once upon a time—actually about two years ago—I was asked to work on the Catwalk book about Jean Paul Gaultier . Upon looking at an Excel sheet that listed all of Gaultier’s womenswear collections (ready-to-wear and couture) between 1976 and 2020, my initial excitement about the project turned into terror. Each book in the series provides a comprehensive look at a designer’s careelr with reviews and often unseen pictures from every collection. Gradually, though, I turned back to flesh from stone, lured by the joy of research. Gaultier is many things—but boring isn’t one of them.

Now that the tome—it’s a heavy volume—is out, and I’ve been asked by my editor to talk a bit about my Gaultier adventure. I’ll start with a few takeaways that focus on the big picture followed by some very sub

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