The great thing about American women is their energy and the way they love to dress. French women don't really dress; they are too conservative, as it's always a question of money. In America, women are powerful and strong, determined. If they want to be an object, they choose to be in control.
Interpretation
This quote celebrates the empowerment and expressiveness of American women compared to the conservatism of French women.
Jean Paul Gaultier's quote highlights the contrast between American and French women regarding their expression through fashion and personal empowerment. He admires the boldness and energy of American women, suggesting that they use clothing as a means of asserting their strength and individuality, while implying that French women may hold back in their expression due to cultural norms and financial considerations.
In practice
During a women's empowerment seminar, this quote can be shared to illustrate the importance of self-expression.
I love and admire everyone who is different. I love that. The 'jet set' is banal. 'Good taste' is banal. Eccentricity is chic. Good taste paralyzes. But punk or street fashion or a tattoo-covered body, that is interesting to me, and that I love. I didn't go to fashion school. I learned from watching couture shows on TV and reading magazines. That made me dream.
I have always been drawn to designing fashions that are rebellious, like black leather jackets on suburban kinds, a corset dress, punk, blue jeans. I love that. Fashion changes all the time, and what is considered extreme or elegant or luxurious (or not luxurious) is changing all the time.
Dressing is a pleasure; clothes are not a joke.
I don't know exactly what is my impact, but I can say I am doing fashion my own way.
Clothes are expensive. You have to buy them, and to buy them, you have to believe in them.
It's always the badly dressed people who are the most interesting.
I'm giving curvy women a seat at a table that we've never been invited to before - a table with high-end fashion people who have never considered us beautiful.
What I've done, Coco Chanel would never have done. She would have hated it.
Many women have asked me if it is possible to have a well-built complete wardrobe on a limited budget. "Money," I tell them, "is no guarantee of taste and the fitness of things, and an overstuffed closet is often as bare as a skeleton when it comes to wearable apparel."
To me, eyewear goes way beyond being a prescription. It's like makeup. It's the most incredible accessory. The shape of a frame or the color of lenses can change your whole appearance.
Many faux pas of fashion can be avoided if you curb your instinctive desire to buy things with your heart instead of your head.
Fashion goes in only one direction -forward- and I am a firm believer in thinking that way too.
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