People are so codified - it's sad.

Jean Paul Gaultier, the enfant terrible of fashion, once said with piercing honesty: “People are so codified—it’s sad.” In this short but profound observation, he revealed his rebellion not merely against clothing traditions, but against the invisible chains that societies place upon individuals. His lament is not just about fabric and cut, but about the human spirit bound by rigid categories, by rules that stifle freedom, by codes that dictate who we must be rather than who we truly are.

At the heart of this quote lies the concept of codification—the reducing of people into systems, labels, and predictable boxes. To be “codified” is to be stripped of spontaneity, individuality, and authenticity. It is to be told what colors you may wear, what professions are proper for you, what loves you may pursue, what emotions you may show. Gaultier, who constantly blurred lines of gender, culture, and form in his designs, saw this as a tragedy: the sadness of people who live within cages built not of iron, but of expectation.

Fashion itself has always been a battlefield for these codes. In Victorian England, women wore corsets so tight they could scarcely breathe, because society declared that frailty was elegance. In Japan, the rigid kimono rules once dictated social status, marriageability, even morality. And yet, history has always birthed rebels: Coco Chanel discarding corsets for freedom of movement; the youth of the 1960s tearing away gray conformity with vibrant colors; Gaultier himself sending men down the runway in skirts, mocking the absurdity of gendered limits. These revolutions in cloth were not trivial—they were battles for the soul’s right to be free.

But Gaultier’s lament is broader than fashion. To him, codification is the disease of a culture that fears freedom. It is why artists are censored, why thinkers are silenced, why outsiders are shunned. A society too enamored with codes becomes a society without wonder, a society where sameness reigns and creativity withers. That is why he calls it sad: because within every codified person lies a hidden world of colors, songs, and shapes that may never be revealed.

Yet his statement also holds a spark of defiance. For if codification is the disease, art is the cure. By breaking codes in his work—mixing streetwear with haute couture, blending masculine and feminine, celebrating eccentricity—Gaultier showed the world that freedom could be beautiful, shocking, even sacred. Like the great artists and prophets of the past, he used his craft to awaken others to the prison they did not know they lived in.

The lesson for us is clear: resist the temptation to live by rigid codes that others impose. Question the categories that define you—your job title, your gender expectations, your social role—and ask whether they reflect your truth or merely tradition. Do not allow yourself to be flattened into predictability. Instead, embrace the strangeness, the individuality, the rawness that makes you alive.

Practically, this means daring to express yourself authentically in small and great ways. Wear what reflects your spirit, not what is dictated by trends. Speak truths that others are afraid to say, so long as they are spoken with compassion. Support the art, music, and voices that break molds rather than reinforce them. And above all, teach children that their uniqueness is not something to be tamed, but something to be treasured.

Thus, Gaultier’s lament becomes a call to arms. “People are so codified—it’s sad.” But the sadness need not endure. For every generation can choose to shed its codes and reclaim the freedom of authenticity. And when it does, the world will not only be freer—it will be more alive, more colorful, and more beautiful than ever before.