Innovative space-age style guru
BORN FEBRUARY 18, 1934 – DIED FEBRUARY 3, 2023, AGED 88
FELLOW designers panned his “out-of-this-world” creations but actresses such as Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn and Jane Fonda loved the work of Spanish fashion visionary Paco Rabanne. Although he lived frugally in Paris, his scent Pour Homme became a global bestseller, earning him a fortune.
Born Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo in northern Spain, his father was executed while fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
His mother, a professional seamstress, took Paco and his three siblings to live in France, and he grew up in Brittany.
Years spent studying architecture brought out his artistic talents which he put to use working on jewellery ranges for Givenchy and Dior, and he was celebrated for producing eccentric large buttons.
Rabanne’s imagination ran riot when he formed his own fashion house in Paris in 1966, making dresses from materials including wood and metal, with chain mailstyle designs to hold them together.
One of his shows in the mid-60s was called 12 Unwearable Dresses In Contemporary Materials. It dismayed traditional designers but stars such as Elizabeth Taylor loved the styles.
Artist Salvador Dali described him as the ‘second genius of Spain’ while Coco Chanel dismissed him witheringly as “the metal worker”.
Despite the continuing criticism, stars including Jane Birkin and Mia Farrow had to have his creations in their wardrobes.
The tireless innovator started the trend of playing loud, dynamic soundtracks during fashion shows and he selected models of different ethnicities for his catwalks.
Rabanne created the iconic green costume worn by Jane Fonda in the 1968 cult science fiction classic, Barbarella.
Despite this, Rabanne insisted he was a traditionalist, telling one interviewer: “I’m one of the most classic creators of fashion.”
In 1969 the Barcelona-based Puig family helped Rabanne launch his first fragrance, Calandre. Pour Homme, launched in 1973, became the bestselling male fragrance in the world for 10 years.
Marc Puig, chief executive of the company which took over the Rabanne label, said the designer “transmitted a unique aesthetic and a daring, revolutionary vision of the world of fashion”, adding: “We are grateful to Monsieur Rabanne for establishing our avantgarde heritage and defining a future of limitless possibilities.”
The designer never married and said he lived like a monk.