Gaultier: 'She's a miracle because, well, she's Madonna.'

In an interview with Associated Press, fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier talks about why he is leaving fashion, and of course about his work with Madonna:

Looking back through his four decades of creations he recalls the surprising origin of the bustier that first made him a household name in the U.S. - when a certain pop star from Michigan wore it on her 'Blond Ambition' tour in 1990.

'It was not Madonna who wore my first conical bra, it was Nana my Teddy Bear. And when I was six, I wanted to have a doll, but my parents didn't find it politically correct for a boy,' he said.

Madonna is still very much in his heart - and he defended her against ageist criticism that her fall in this year's Brit Awards showed that, at 56 years old, she should be hanging up her pointy bra once and for all.

'Why do they attack her because of her age, and they don't do it to men?' he asked.

'She got up as if it was nothing and to fall must have hurt a lot. She could have killed herself,' he said. 'She's a miracle because, well, she's Madonna.'

To read the full interview visit: www.foxbusiness.com/markets