Jean Paul Gaultier Originally Designed Madonna’s Cone Bra For His Teddy Bear

This morning, July 24th, legendary designer Jean Paul Gaultier appeared on British talk show (or “chat show,” as they say across the pond) This Morning to discuss his upcoming London cabaret revue, Fashion Freak Show. But the conversation wandered over to Madonna, both JPG’s most famous client and a woman synonymous with his famed cone bra.

Gaultier gushed effusively about his relationship with Madge, saying that he loved working with her. And so when co-host Ruth Langsford jokingly asked if he was in love with the pop icon, Gaultier, who is openly gay, smiled and said, “Yes a little bit. I asked her to marry me three times, and she said no.”

Madonna is surely the most famous person to sport the conical bra corset–she initially unveiled the style to the world in 1990 in Chiba, Japan, on the first stop of her “Blonde Ambition” tour, famously chronicled in the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare. But the designer revealed that while Madonna may be strongly associated with the cone bra, he didn’t originally design it for her (and an initial version of the style appeared in a Gaultier fashion show in 1987). He didn’t actually design it for a person at all–the first cone bra wearer was his teddy bear.

As a child, Gaultier, whose ’90s designs are currently all the rage within the Kardashian family, wanted a doll to dress up, but his parents disapproved and bought him a teddy bear instead. So he declared that his teddy bear was a girl, and began designing outfits for it. And thus the cone bra was born.

“At first you know I didn’t do it [for Madonna],” he said. “I created it for my teddy bear because I have a teddy bear called Nana and because I wanted to have a doll but my parents said, ‘For a boy? No no no no, a teddy bear.'”

That must have been the world’s chicest teddy bear.

Related: Donatella Versace Reveals a Stunning Detail About Madonna and the Aftermath of Her Brother’s Death