Jean Paul Gaultier Teams Up With Diet Coke for Ads, Bottle Designs

By Erin Donnelly 03/08/12 at 10:00 AM

Apparently Karl Lagerfeld and Diane von Furstenberg aren't the only designers with a thirst for Diet Coke.

Coca Cola has tapped none other than Jean Paul Gaultier as its new European creative director, a career move which will see the flamboyant Frenchman starring in three short films for the soda brand, Women's Wear Daily reports.

In the first episode of The Serial Designer, Gaultier sinks his teeth into two meaty roles: a pompadoured paparazzo who trains his striped camera at puppet heroine Irene, and a Simon Cowell-esque music critic/stylist who helps transform the stringed star into a bonafide rock diva.

Clad in his signature Breton-striped tee, the designer blasts Irene's lackluster performance ("eeet's all wrong!") before joyfully taking a swig of Diet Coke ("wow, fab!") and stitching her up a teeny-tiny black leather trench with sexy zipped accents.

"With Jean Paul, it's all zips, glam, and rock 'n' roll," Irene tells JPG's journalist doppelgänger.

More films will soon be released, while a limited-edition collection of Gaultier-issue bottles and cans will hit European retailers next month.

"The bottles have the shape of a woman’s body, so it was great fun to dress them,” Gaultier tells WWD.

Still, it must be pretty tricky fitting a cone bra around a soda can ...