Lil Nas X and Jean Paul Gaultier Team Up For Exclusive Collaboration
The American powerhouse and French designer are teaming up to release limited edition mesh tops inspired by the tradition of the brand and Lil Nas X’s debut album.
What happens when two pop culture phenomenons fuse, one a titan of music, one a force of fashion? Lil Nas X and Jean Paul Gaultier can give us an idea of the answer.
In celebration of Lil Nas X’s long-awaited debut album, Montero, the French designer is joining together with the American pop-star to release a limited edition mesh top, putting a contemporary spin on the iconic 90s staple—and no one is doing contemporary like Lil Nas X.
A total of 666 pieces make up then collection (fitting, when considering Gaultier’s goth-glam aesthetic and Lil Nas X’s heaven-versus-hell motif woven through the album), focusing on the aligning dark-glitz aesthetics of both collaborators, remixing 1994’s debut top for 2021.
The new version, inspired by an archive print from JPG’s SS 2001 collection, merges unadulterated camp with LGBTQI+ imagery, making it intrinsically Lil Nas X, even borrowing from his mytho-fantasy realm in an expression of artistic creation and unapologetic acceptance.
In all, the dynamic collaboration between the singer and the designer is seemingly inevitable: both are trailblazers in their industry, with Jean Paul Gaultier shaking 20th century Parisian fashion and originating the man-skirt, not to mention being one of the first openly gay designers, an openness at once inspiring and shocking—a parallel to Lil Nas X.
A match made in heaven (or, in the spirit of Montero, hell) classifies the limitless spirits of Lil Nas X and JPG as one of the most radical and expression fashion collaborations of the moment, indisputably stylish and irrevocably irreverent.
The 666-piece limited edition collection is on sale exclusively now at lilnasx.jeanpaulgaultier.com.