Although repurposing is a buzzword in fashion today, for Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, creative refashioning of textiles into clothing was already a buzzing notion that started in his youth. Designing coats from found objects, the designer has always had an affinity for constructing with found materials. Some could call these scraps, but the finished garments are far from thrown together and have become works of art in their own right.

De Castelbajac began his career in fashion, working alongside his mother, a seamstress manager, in the 1960s. In 1978, he founded his eponymous label. Around this time, he would design for Max Mara, and in 1993, he created two collections for Courrèges.

The designer’s work doesn’t fit within a simple definition. Over time, his embrace of evolution and his ability to move between mediums would define his design approach. Although fashion is his primary outlet, installation, drawing, and collage are all within his artistic oeuvre. This is displayed in the new exhibition, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac: Imagination at Work, at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse, France—showcasing nearly 300 pieces spanning six decades of the visionary designer’s work.

In addition to repurposing, De Castelbajac was also a pioneer in thoughtful collaborations, drawing other avant-garde artists into his orbit like Robert Mapplethorpe, Malcolm McLaren, Cindy Sherman, and Keith Haring. Tapping into the bubble of pop culture, the designer’s work has drawn in newer generations since dressing Lady Gaga and Vanessa Paradis, and even designing Farrah Fawcett’s looks in the original Charlie’s Angels series. Visitors will also be able to see photographs of artist Andy Warhol and designer Vivienne Westwood in De Castelbajac’s signature colorblocked styles.

With craft and camp often coming together in his collections, some distinctive signatures include the incorporation of pop culture references and the heavy use of primary colors, reminiscent of the pop art and Bauhaus movements. His series, “Accumulation Garments,” featured stacked teddy bears and other heaps of objects forming into jackets that operate more like sculptures, while more gatekept pieces took inspiration from the written word—most notably his poem-dresses of the eighties and book-dresses of the 2010s, where De Castelbajac displayed his own writing alongside the poetry of Jean Cocteau and Simone de Beauvoir. The evolving designer is finally given his flowers, with the exhibition planting inspiration for designers to come.

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac: Imagination at Work is on view through August 23, 2026, at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse, France.