French fashion designer Pierre Cardin dies at 98
- France’s Fine Arts Academy announced the designer’s death on Twitter
- Cardin was known for his futuristic looks in the 1960s and 70s
- He overhauled the fashion industry by successfully licensing his brand name
French designer Pierre Cardin, whose space-inspired looks upended catwalk styles in the 1960s and 70s, has died at the age of 98, France‘s Fine Arts Academy said in a statement on Twitter.
Cardin who was born in Italy in 1922 but emigrated to France as a small child, died in a hospital in Neuilly in the west of Paris, his family said.
He cut his teeth working at top couture houses such as Christian Dior before going on to launch his own brand and pioneering the use of licensing in fashion, plastering his label’s name on products of all kinds.
As well as shaking up fashion with bubble-dresses and geometrical designs, Cardin was also one of the first to bring high fashion to the masses by selling collections in department stores from the late 1950s.
His savvy business sense brought him a mix of admiration but also scorn from fashion purists at the time.
French designer Pierre Cardin, whose futuristic space-inspired looks upended catwalk styles in the 1960s and 70s with futuristic looks, has died at the age of 98. Pictured: Cardin pictured next to his famous ‘bubble house’ in 2000
Cardin who was born in Italy in 1922 but emigrated to France as a small child, died in a hospital in Neuilly in the west of Paris, his family said. Pictured: Cardin during the inauguration of the Pierre Cardin Museum in Paris in 2014
As well as shaking up fashion with bubble-dresses and geometrical designs, Cardin was also one of the first to bring high fashion to the masses by selling collections in department stores from the late 1950s. Pictured: Cardin (bottom row, centre) with models wearing his clothes in 2017
While he no longer presented runway collections, Cardin remained active in the industry, attending parties and events and taking young designers under his wing.
He has previously been a mentor to prominent designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier.
Born Pietro Cardin on July 2, 1922 in San Biagio Di Callalta, near Venice, Cardin moved to France at the age of two and grew up in the central city of Saint-Etienne.
He arrived in Paris in 1944 and began working under established designers Jeanne Paquin and Elsa Schiaparelli.
That same year, Cardin met French artists Jean Cocteau and Christian Bérard, with whom he would design the costumes and masks for Cocteau’s celebrated film version of Beauty and the Beast.
More to follow…
While best known for the work of his 1960s and 70s heyday, Cardin remained a key fixture of the fashion circuit, creating looks for Naomi Campbell (left) and supporting other designers, including model Eva Herzigova (right with Cardin)
