Duran Lantink Brings Louder, More Wearable Gaultier to Paris

Duran Lantink, creative director of Jean Paul Gaultier, is finalising his third ready-to-wear collection ahead of Sunday’s show at Paris’s Palais de Tokyo. Fittings at the house’s Rue Saint-Martin headquarters, alongside London-based stylist Jodie Barnes, revealed a season built around finding different personalities within a single character.

A Louder Gaultier Person

The 38-year-old Dutch designer says the Gaultier wearer can shift between strict tailoring, sensuality and a hippie spirit. One look pairs a leather skirt with a checked shirt fitted with tiny bells that jingle as the model walks. The idea came from a tasselled glove with bells from a 1989 collection, which he found in a house closet.

Lantink took the creative helm in April 2025, overseeing both couture and ready-to-wear after running his own label, founded in 2016. His earlier Gaultier shows were provocative, but he says this one is somewhat more wearable. He adds that experimentation is still needed to establish the house codes, and that completing his first couture and pre-collections has sharpened his direction.

Shoes and Retail Expansion

Although Gaultier does not make bags, it introduces a new shoe this season, offered in several colourways and styles from flats to heels and lace-ups. Ready-to-wear was largely wound down after founder Jean Paul Gaultier retired in 2020, but it is now sold through 120 points of sale. Since October 1, it also has a 30-square-metre pop-up at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, beside Courrèges.

Galeries Lafayette’s chief merchandising officer, Alix Morabito, praised Lantink’s Fall/Winter 2026 show as a fresh reinterpretation of the house’s approach. Lantink says he also has the backing of Gaultier himself, with whom he trades texts and shares lunches.