Classique: The very first perfume by the enfant terrible of fashion. Released in 1993 by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Classique is meant to reflect JPG's haute-couture creations: sensual, offbeat, and above all ultra-feminine.
Glass bust with a sculpted corset, inspired by the Stockman and by Shocking, originally delivered in a chromed tin can.
The bottle is a feminine glass bust on which a corset is sculpted. The shapes are rounded, the breasts pointed forward, in a design choice that heightens the provocation. Retailers describe it as a corseted bust, an emblematic piece of the house's feminine wardrobe. On the original eau de toilette version, the surface is usually frosted and the bottle bears no label.
The claimed lineage is twofold: the Stockman dress form used in couture workshops, and the silhouette of Schiaparelli's Shocking bottle, released in 1937. The bustier reproduces that of the corset dress first worn by Catherine Ringer of Rita Mitsouko, then by Madonna in a conical version.
The launch came in a chromed tin can, a metal cylinder enclosing the bottle. Gaultier traces the origin of this packaging to the opening of a can of cat food, which he first turned into bracelets. An auction catalogue, compiled by a perfume expert, lists 100 ml of eau de toilette as the original reference size.
For twenty years, the bottle's corset followed the couture collections: dadaism in 1993, tattoo corset in 1997, red vinyl in 2001, gold corset in 2005, sequins in 2007, screen-printed Maasai pectoral in 2008. In 2016, for the Essences de Parfums, the Classique and Le Mâle bottles were redesigned for the first time, while remaining shaped as busts.