Jean-Paul Gaultier announces his final fashion show to celebrate 50 years in the industry

Jean-Paul Gautier, the celebrated French fashion designer, has announced his next fashion show will be his last, after a career spanning 50 years.

The 67-year-old revealed his planned swansong in a video on social media, but promised the other parts of his high-end fashion empire will live on.

The final show, celebrating half a century of creating clothes, will take place in Paris next week. His first catwalk show was in 1976.

The designer said in the clip: “I am going to share something with you.

“This will be my last Haute Couture show. Be there - you can’t miss it.

“However, stay tuned, Gaultier Paris goes on, the Haute Couture continues.

“I have a new concept, I will tell you about it later.”

Gaultier is one of the long-standing stars of the French fashion industry and built a reputation for dressing A-list celebrities such as Madonna, whom he once famously dressed in a conical bra.

He spent decades cultivating an image as the industry’s “bad boy”, always seeking to push boundaries and blurring the lines between men's and women's clothing. His brand still produces perfumes.

The designer did not detail what would happen to his namesake brand, owned by private Spanish fashion and fragrance group Puig, only saying in a brief statement that it would continue to exist.