Taken from the Spring 2015 issue of Dazed:

“I love the fact that it was a celebration and not a funeral,” legendary fashion provocateur Jean Paul Gaultier says of his SS15 show, a beauty pageant extravaganza that saw him bid a fitting farewell to ready-to-wear. In a Parisian theatre, groups of contestants battled it out for the crown – including a gang of lucha libre ladies who staged a runway smackdown in elaborately embellished masks. To celebrate the Paris arrival of The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk – the smash hit exhibition that has seen over a million visitors marvel at its wonders since beginning its world tour four years ago – we present Wrestle Mania, our Spring issue beauty special. For the shoot, fashion director Robbie Spencer and beauty editor Yadim teamed up with photographer Richard Burbridge for a bloodied, glitter-strewn ode to Gaultier’s final show. But what could we expect from the designer’s own fantasy fighting persona? “As I was always called ‘l’enfant terrible’, my wrestling name would be ‘El Niño Terrible’,” he says. “My costume? A kilt or Breton stripe!”

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk is open now until August 3 at the Grand Palais in Paris

Liked this? Head here for more Jean Paul Gaultier: 

Gaultier goes out with a bang for his final ready-to-wear show

Jean Paul Gaultier on how Madonna became his muse

The dA-Zed guide to Jean Paul Gaultier

Photography Richard Burbridge; styling Robbie Spencer; hair Tamara McNaughton at Management + Artists using Oribe Hair Care; make-up Yadim at Art Partner; model Manuela Frey at The Society Management; photographic assistants Kim Reenberg, Enrico Brunetti, Basil Faucher; styling assistants Victor Cordero, Lizy Curtis; hair assistants Erin Herschleb, Clay Nielsen; make-up assistants Kanako Takase, Mondo Leon; digital operator Kevin Kunstadt; casting Noah Shelley

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