26 Years Of Madonna & Jean-Paul Gaultier.

With a new collaboration popping up every day, few designer-celebrity partnerships withstand the test of time. An exception to the rule is Jean Paul Gaultier, who, with a traveling exhibit and corresponding tome, reveals a lifelong liaison between style and pop culture. Did you know that the designer catapulted to fame in the late ’70s with a collection inspired by Grease? Exhibit curator Thierry-Maxime Loriot tells "PEOPLE" that Gaultier pulls inspiration from television, film, music and yes, real people. It’s this very aesthetic that upset fashion traditionalists so many years ago. “He destroys the notion of elegance. It’s street fashion that I see all the time outside the windows of my atelier,” designer Claude Montana lamented to "PEOPLE" in 1985. A year later, Madonna first wore Gaultier’s designs to the premiere of "Desperately Seeking Susan", and a legendary partnership was born. The duo went on to collaborate on costumes for the pop sensation’s "Blonde Ambition Tour" in 1990, the "Confessions Tour" in 2006, and countless other occasions. Footage from the 1985 film premiere foreshadows their mutual success. A reporter asks, “What do you think of the way Madonna is dressed tonight?” The crowd roars with overwhelming approval.