Paco Rabanne completely changed the Haute Couture. The fashion designer never fails to spark controversy with his aluminium couture and successful perfume brand.
Paco Rabanne, whose actual name was Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo, was born in the Spanish town of Pasaia, Basque Country in 1934 to a military family. His father was a Republican Colonel who died during the Spanish Civil War, and his mother was the head seamstress at the first Balenciaga couture boutique in Spain. Rabanne's mother moved their family to Paris after his father died, where he changed his birth name. She remained with the fashion brand after Balenciaga opened its first store in Paris.
Paris's Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
Paco Rabanne, meanwhile, studied architecture at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris and became fascinated with art and design. While studying architecture, Rabanne made money making fashion sketches for Dior and Givenchy, and shoe sketches for Charles Jourdan, yet he ultimately accepted a job with France's foremost creator of reinforced concrete, Auguste Perret, staying there for nearly ten years. "Most couturiers kicked me out," he once claimed. But among those who were receptive were Elsa Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and Hubert de Givenchy, as well as Roger Jean-Pierre, a jeweler who provided the couture.
Visionary Designer
Rabanne debuted his first fashion designs at the age of 30. In February 1966, he debuted his first collection, "Manifesto: Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials," at the George-V Hotel. Paco Rabanne's artistic touch was already evident in the futuristic-inspired collection, which included 12 wearable dresses made of sequin and Rhodoid. In April of the same year, in the Crazy Horse Saloon, he provided another collection based on the previous one's codes. Rabanne defied tradition by using music that was uncommon at the time and casting models of color.
Believing that "sewing is a bondage," he designed garments not of fabric, but of earth-friendly paper and other non-fashion materials like plastic and metal, which were stitched together with wire and glue. He'd later sell DIY kits that included discs, rings, and pliers. Rabanne's designs were appealing in the realm between art and fashion. One of his first customers was the collector Peggy Guggenheim, and Françoise Hardy, the yé-yé star, became a fan. Dossena drew inspiration from a metal-link jumpsuit Hardy wore in 1968, the same year Brigitte Bardot wore Rabanne in the music video for her song "Contact," produced by Serge Gainsbourg, and Jane Fonda wore the designer's futuristic clothes in Barbarella. And, yes, a star was born.
The Voice of Paris
Rabanne's costumes revealed more than they concealed, although reviewers reacted more to his technique than to his exposure of the female body. Paco's Sewing Kit: Pliers and Wires, blared one New York Times headline. "He's the talk of Paris," affirmed Vogue. Rabanne was dubbed the "metallurgist of fashion" by Coco Chanel. Rabanne continued to experiment with unique materials for his trims and fabrics. In 1968, a battered metal aluminum jersey was introduced, and in 1970, outfits with linked buttons were introduced. Rabanne utilized ostrich feathers linked with Velcro in 1972. Dresses were manufactured with glass reflectors in 1982, while chainmail was employed by Rabanne in 1984.
World of Scents
Rabanne brought perfumes to his company in 1969. This marked the beginning of the label revolutionizing the perfume industry and becoming a long-lasting success in the market. As a result, his debut fragrance for males, "Paco Rabanne," was not published until 1973. Between 1979 and 1988, he was inspired by the international success of his perfume line to produce the scents "Metal", "Night", "Sport" and "Ténéré".
He only became interested in men's fashion in 1976, when he created his first men's ready-to-wear collection. From 1990 through 1998, he showcased his women's ready-to-wear collection, while his Haute Couture success continued. With his Spring Summer 1990 collection, he even received the prestigious Dé d'Or award.
Has the Countdown Begun?
Rabanne published "Has the Countdown Begun? Through Darkness to Enlightenment" in 1994. Rabanne spoke and wrote extensively about his past incarnations and claims, including one in which he stated to have gone to Earth from the planet Altair 78,000 years ago to organize humanity, earning him the nickname Wacko Paco. As fantastical as all of that sounds, Rabanne kept his feet on the ground, saying that he sought inspiration in his immediate surroundings rather than in what was to come. In an interview in 2002, he said that there was a similar women's liberation movement in France during the 1960s to that in America. It was a moment when women rose to be warriors because they needed to express their desire for emancipation, freedom, and liberty. The armor was almost necessary.
Rabanne left the fashion industry in 1999. The legendary designer and perfume creator kept his personal life private. The French culture minister appointed him an Officer of the Legion d'Honneur in 2010. In 2000, he received the Gold Medal of Merit in Fine Arts from the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports. Between 1999 and 2009, he retired from Haute Couture but remained active in the ready-to-wear business, which prospered from changes in artistic direction.
Enfant Terrible
Numerous people have paid tribute to the legendary designer after the fashion brand announced his death on February 3, 2023. His legacy as one of the most influential fashion figures of the twentieth century will serve as a constant source of inspiration.
Rabanne became famous in the 1960s as an enfant terrible of the fashion world due to his use of unusual materials such as metal and plastic in his garments, as well as his incorporation of futuristic themes in his designs, achieving notoriety for his space-age style. Paco Rabanne designed apparel that was recognized as work of art. Rabanne's antipathy to needle and thread, called the "metal worker," epitomizes his radical re-evaluation of style.
