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Early life and Family Jean Claude was born Jean Claude Coste in Narbonne, south-west France in 1944. His father, a pilot in the French Air Force, travelled from one air base to another, so the young Jean Claude spent much of his early years in the care of his grandmother in Aix-en-Provence. Later he followed his father’s military postings to live in Algeria: Oran, then Algers. His affinity for the material of leather was influenced by his father’s leather aviator jacket, which was decorated with medals and kept out of reach of the young Jean Claude. The leather jacket therefore became a lifelong fascination.[1]

Early career in psychology In 1962 at age 18, Jean Claude Coste returned from Algeria to begin studying psychology at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. He also followed Jacques Lacan’s seminaries in Paris then collaborated on an analysis at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich for two years. He chose to specialize in the development of psychomotricity in children between 0 and 2 years. Throughout the 1970s, Jean Claude Coste taught, practiced and lectured on different practices of mental health throughout the south of France. He was made Director of the Psychomotricity Rehabilitation department within the medical faculty at the University of Nice, where he taught over 500 students. During this time he authored several books on the subject, including a book for the Que sais-je? (What do I know?) encyclopedic series published by the Presses Universitaires de France (University Presses of France) on psychomotricity (1972); Corps et Graphie (Expression psychomotrice de l'enfant dans le dessin et la peinture) (1975) and La relaxation Psycho-Syntonique, published by Éditions Universitaires (1976). His interest for creating leather clothing came through developing two major psychological theories. The first being the concept of the psychic second skin, described also as the 'psychic skin'[2], the protective 'psychic envelope' and the 'skin ego' (Didier Anzieu). Carl Jung's partially autobiographical book, 'Memories, Dreams, Reflections' also make reference to the concept of the psychic second skin in infancy. Coste had also been applying Jacob Moreno’s theory of therapeutic psychodrama to his own psychomotricity work with children with learning and behavioural difficulties. [3] He found that his patients' own sense of self was reinforced when they were given a costume or uniform to wear, such as that of a fire-fighter or a policeman, which Coste made himself. Through costume role play, he observed that his patients were reassured of their physical identity, aiding their own personalities to develop more naturally and without psychosis. For Coste clothing and psychology has proven to be inextricably linked, and his study of psychomotricity, of the body and body language has always informed his design and manipulation of the material of leather.[4]

Fashion career Beginning on the Côte d’Azur – Jean Claude J3[edit] By 1978, Coste decided that he would apply his knowledge and understanding of the body to try out making clothes as a side project to his teaching at the University of Nice. He purchased a small commercial space in Nice on the rue Tonduti-de-l’Escarène and opened a boutique selling prêt-a-porter for men and women in leather. In order to keep his fashion project separate from his psychology work, he gave his boutique the name 'J3’, after a play by French playwright Roger Ferdinand. Additional boutiques soon followed in the town of Juan-les-Pins and in St. Tropez. The codes and aesthetic vision of the J3 (later jitrois) brand that were to endure were influenced by the contemporary artists of this period who gathered in Provence, known as l'école de Nice. During the war and the occupation, the South of France had been the ‘zone libre’, and had since remained a hotbed for artists. Coste was going regularly at that time to both the Auberge de la Colombe d’Or in Saint Paul de Vence a regular meeting point for artists Juan Miro, Alexander Calder, Yves Klein or Cesar Baldaccini. By the late 1970s, leather was still heavily associated with motorcycle toughs, punks and the armed forces. Coste became the first artist to create dyed leather and elevate the material to couture status following the inspiration of these artists. His earliest clients from this period included Princess Caroline of Monaco and Princess Stephanie of Monaco.

The origin of the name Jitrois During World War II (1939-1945) rationing was essential in France. All consumer goods were controlled by ration cards from August 1940. The population was divided up by age and gender and this determined what rations one received. J-3 division was designated for people aged 13-21 years old. In 1945, Roger Ferdinand wrote and produced a comedy for the stage. Its storyline was based on a group of students (teenagers in the J-3 category) who spent most of their time skipping classes to sell cigarettes and silk stockings. When a new Philosophy teacher arrived at the students’ school, Mademoiselle Bravard things changed; the students ended up passing their final exams with flying colours. The main actor in the play met Jean Claude Coste who was a huge fan of Ferdinand’s work and personally gave him the original book of the play "Les J-3". Jean Claude gave his first fashion boutique launched in 1978 the name “J-3”. Jean Claude Coste became ‘Jean Claude of J3’. In 1981, he was quoted on his work as a fashion designer by a journalist for the French newspaper Nice Matin as 'Jean Claude Jitrois': the phonetical misunderstanding of the ‘J’ and ‘3’ in French. The brand was henceforth renamed 'Jean Claude Jitrois' and has been to this day.

'''Establishing in Paris '''In 1983, Jean Claude Jitrois and partner Gilbert Maria[5] established the brand as Jean Claude Jitrois in Paris, with a boutique and workshop on rue Faubourg Saint Honoré in Paris. The boutique at 40 rue Faubourg Saint Honoré remains the flagship of the brand to this day. In 2001, Jean Claude Jitrois was decorated as a chevalier of the French Legion of Honour, later elevated to the rank of officier in 2012, for services to the fashion industry and the promotion of France abroad.  Artistic collaboration Between 1997 and 1998, Jitrois collaborated with photographer Helmut Newton on several occasions, including for the 1998 Jitrois calendar,[17] and a pull-out booklet for l'Officiel magazine starring model Sarah Marshall. Between 2002 and 2006, Jitrois worked with French photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino on seasonal campaigns starring top models such as Liberty Ross and Missy Rayder. From 2006, Jitrois began a long period of artistic collaboration with British photographer Rankin.[18]