If you ever wondered what Madonna‘s incredible fashion archive looks like — the legendary musician just took fans into the vault.
The Queen of pop posted photos of her most coveted pieces on Instagram on Monday, writing, “A trip to my archives is always a nostalgic trip down memory lane! If I think about my journey through music over the last 4 decades — how could I not think about all the incredible clothes I got to wear and all the amazing designers I was lucky enough to work with!!”
No doubt, one designer that comes to mind would be Jean Paul Gaultier, who created the now-iconic cone bra that she wore on her Blonde Ambition tour in 1990. She posed holding up some very memorable pieces, but the singer was struck with sentimentality as she surveyed everything she wore over her career.
“When I was a little girl I remember my mother was always cold. Partly because she was sick but also because she never had a coat,” Madonna wrote. “She always spent what little money we had on our coats and I remember standing outside waiting for the school bus With my mother shivering in the cold in the middle of winter!! Years later when I became successful my mother’s sister said to me, ‘Now You can buy all the coats your mother couldn’t buy for herself!'”
She continued, “The journey from the memory of my shivering mother in Winter to me shivering in the over air-conditioned storage space where all my costumes are stored is quite remarkable! I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Every time I put on an incredible coat I think of my Mother. I hope she likes my taste in costumes. But most of all I hope she’s warm! 💗”
Madonna is currently preparing for her highly anticipated Celebration Tour and is set to resurrect her most recognizable and beloved fashion moments – including her iconic Jean Paul Gaultier cone bra.
According to the US Sun, a source claimed Madonna is currently curating her costumes for the tour, incorporating some of her most iconic stage looks from the past.
“Madonna will be reflecting on her entire career in the tour and that won’t just be the music,” said the insider. “It will be the clothes too. She wants to wear updated versions of her most recognizable outfits and the cone bra is at the top of the list. She has been a trailblazer with her fashion and is getting a lot of her designer friends involved in helping her.”
With the Celebration Tour kicking off in July, the source said, “Madonna is putting absolutely everything into this show and is laser focused on making it a spectacle which the fans will adore. Every single detail is being thought over at length. It will be well worth the wait.”
The “Material Girl” singer first wore the Jean Paul Gaultier bullet-bra corset during her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour and has consistently revisited the style staple throughout her career.
The French fashion designer Gaultier sent his first iterations of the cone bra down the runway in 1983. Taking elements from the 1950s bullet bra and subverting the context to a hyper-sexualized extreme, the designer’s Fall/Winter 1984 Barbès collection debuted his iconic velvet ruched corset lace-up conical breast dress still celebrated in fashion history today.
The first rendition of Madonna’s specific cone bra saw its debut in Gaultier’s 1987 runway presentation. (The designer admitted he first designed the look for his teddy bear named Nana.) The cone bra style later made a grand appearance in 2006 in Gaultier’s 30th anniversary collection.
Madonna wore different iterations of the style at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991, during her MDNA tour in 2012 and to perform at the Met Gala in 2018. Stars from Paris Jackson and Julia Fox, to Kylie Jenner and even Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Leon, have embraced the conical-cupped silhouette.
