Gilles Rosier was born in Paris, France, in 1961. He studied at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture in Paris. After graduation, he worked at Pierre Balmain, Christian Dior and as Assistant to Jean-Paul Gaultier, in the 1980's. For some time he was also Artistic Director of the French house Leonard.
He then started his own lines GR 816 and Gilles Rosier in 1992. He also designed for the house of Lacoste for several years, leaving in 1999.
In October 1999, Gilles Rosier took over as head designer for the house of Kenzo, when Kenzo Takada himself retired. He had spent several seasons training under Kenzo before taking over. Having lived in Algeria, Zaire, Gabon, Germany and France, Rosier feels that he is in an ideal position to reinterpret Kenzo's vision of global unity.
One of his recent collections for Kenzo featured classical Japanese details and techniques that evoked an historical mood but looked thoroughly modern.
For Spring/Summer 2002, Rosier sent out a thoroughly modern collection full of relaxed, stylish pieces. He said "I wanted the clothes to be like white paper, being free and discreet at the same time." He cleverly used accessories and fastenings to transform what could have been a straightforward dull collection into a study in deconstruction.
One focal point of the collection was a canvas army belt which Rosier used to pleat skirts, hold a jacket in place, or hold a scarf on a scantily dressed model. Whether weaving in and out of soft-shouldered dresses, or around the waist, this belt gave the loose clothing a hard center.
Rosier presented the Kenzo Spring/Summer 2003 during the Paris Fashion Week in October 2002. However after this collection, he was replaced at Kenzo by Antonio Marras, the Italian designer.