Paco Rabanne, master of the Space Age couture that defined the 1960s, has died aged 88 in Portsall, France.
The Avant Garde fashion designer has been an enigma in recent years, having gone out of fashion at the turn of the new millennium. Although his later years were not spent in the spotlight, the influence of his experimental designs on the industry remains inescapable.
His revolutionary chain dresses, which were the talk of Paris after his first collection at the George V Hotel on February 1, 1966, are still as desirable as ever. His house of the same name continues to offer collections that match its archives today, and his perfume empire, which Puig bought out in 1986, is booming.
A Puig spokesman confirmed Rabanne’s death. “Paco Rabanne made magnetic interference. Who else could tempt the fashionable women of Paris to clamor for dresses made of plastic and metal?” José Manuel Albesa, head of Puig’s fashion and beauty department, told WWD.
Born in the Basque region of Northern Spain in 1934, Rabanne was introduced to fashion design by his mother who was the principal eye of the famous Spanish atelier Cristobal Balenciaga in San Sebastián.
After studying architecture at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which was partly funded by the sale of his exceptional fashion illustrations, Rabanne began his climb through the upper ranks of the design industry.
In his early years, this was defined by the out-of-the-box accessories he produced, often using rhododendron plastic, for top courtiers including Dior, Nina Ricci and Balenciaga. In 1966 he presented the first collection under his own name, entitled “Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials”. For an added modern shock factor, models walked out barefoot in sci-fi, gladiator-style outfits.
One of these dresses, made of aluminum plates with metal joints, is part of the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and bears a striking resemblance to those that continue to define Paco Rabanne’s collections today.
Rabanne’s next collection, shown in April 1966, caused further stir when Paris cabaret stars modeled swimwear made of leather and rhododendron discs in a tease strip style. These two programs exploded him on the couture scene, earning him the title of ‘terrible enfant’.
His innovative use of unlikely industrial materials set him apart from the rest. The futuristic silhouettes helped define the Space Age revolution that defined 1960s luxury fashion, along with other designers including Pierre Cardin and André Courrèges. Although they shared an aesthetic, Rabanne’s unimaginative costume was unique in its use of acrylic discs, paper and steel. As a result Coco Chanel called it “the metal worker”. Other experiments he carried out included knitting with fur, making block-shaped garments, and creating costumes with buttons, coconuts and wood.
It wasn’t all playing off the catwalk, however. Rabanne was highly regarded for his costume design. Most famously, he created the disc green mini dress worn by Jane Fonda in the 1968 Roger Vadim film Barbarella, and other cinematic highlights include the creation of i Casino Royale and two for the Roadboth released in 1967.
Looking back at the archival shots of his collections between 1966 and 1999, most of his works feel as disjointed and radical as ever. It is the legacy of a bold original and creative madness.