The champagne flowed, along with the tributes, as irrepressible fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier slathered his last ready-to-wear show in bucketloads of his famously wacky sense of humour.

Boy George makes an entrance.

Celebrities including French actress Catherine Deneuve and British pop singer Boy George fought their way through hordes of onlookers outside the Grand Rex cinema in central Paris to reach the much-anticipated fashion extravaganza.

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And in a show that was classic Gaultier, the flamboyant showman of Paris fashion delighted his audience with a beauty pageant theme that provoked cheers, whoops and roars of laughter.

Cards welcomed guests to the “election of Miss Jean Paul Gaultier 2015” and thanked everyone who had supported him, with special mentions for “Miss Footballer’s Wife”, “Miss Fashion Editor” and “Miss Tour de France”, all gently sent up during the show.

The event had been the must-have invitation of the Paris fashion week since Gaultier announced his decision to quit ready-to-wear and concentrate on couture nearly two weeks ago.

The former enfant terrible of French fashion – regarded by many as the designer who “wrote the rules” on ready-to-wear – is known for his outlandish imagination, designing Madonna’s cone-shaped bras in the 1990s and putting ordinary people on the catwalk.

Gaultier, 62, earlier this month cited the hectic pace of the modern fashion industry for his decision to bow out after nearly 40 years.

Appearing on stage after the show, the designer was virtually mobbed by friends and well-wishers wanting to pay tribute to him.

“It’s very nice, it’s beautiful. I think it was a beautiful show. I am very happy it succeed very well,” a delighted Gaultier said.

“I feel very happy, we will see what else – a lot of things, a lot of other projects but for today, it’s marvellous and super, super happy.”

The collection crammed with Gaultier signatures such as stripes and corsets marked the end of an era in fashion.

The designer, considered one of France’s all-time most talented, got his start in fashion as an assistant to Pierre Cardin in 1970.

He launched himself in ready-to-wear in 1976 at a time of high creativity for the industry and moved into couture in 1997.