Designer Paco Rabanne, who shocked the fashion world with his daring and unwearable runway looks in the 1960s, has died aged 88 in Brittany.
The eccentric icon, whose real name was Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, used metal, plastic and paper to create his space-age designs, which led to him being dismissed as ‘the metal worker’ by Coco Chanel.
The designer – who was rarely seen in public after retiring in 1999 – was nicknamed ‘Wacko Paco’ and claimed to have lived multiple lives. Among them he said he was a Parisian prostitute during the reign of Louis XV and Tutankhamun’s killer.
He believed he was 78,000 years old, had met God on multiple occasions, been visited by aliens, and had sex with the Earth.
He also predicted in 1999 that Paris would be destroyed later that year when the Russian space station Mir crashed to Earth.
Designer Paco Rabanne, who shocked the fashion world with his daring and unwearable runway looks in the 1960s, has died aged 88 in Brittany
‘I have always had the impression of being a time accelerator,’ he wrote in typically enigmatic style for a retrospective at Antwerp’s fashion museum, MoMu, in 2016.
‘Of going as far as is reasonable for one’s time and not indulge in the morbid pleasure of the known things, which I view as decay.’
He was born in 1934 shortly before the Spanish Civil War. His father, a Republican colonel who was a commander of the Guernica garrison, was shot dead by Francoist troops.
His mother worked as the chief seamstress at Cristóbal Balenciaga’s first fashion house in the Basque country in Spain before moving the family to Paris.
In the French capital, the young Rabanne started making sketches for Dior and Givenchy in his spare time from his architecture degree, and then worked at a concrete producer for ten years.
But his passion for design could not be dulled and he began making jewellery for luxury brands before starting his own fashion house in 1966.
The bold stylist was branded the ‘enfant terrible’ of the fashion world when his debut runways showcased his innovative designs, using unconventional materials.
His show brought immediate fame and notoriety when he stunned the audience with ’12 Unwearable Dresses’, his models dancing barefoot down the catwalk in outfits made of sharp metal.
His stardom reached further heights when in 1968 he designed the iconic green Barbarella outfit worn by Jane Fonda in the eponymous film.
After the media furore around his own line, Rabanne signed a deal that year that brought him under the ownership of the Barcelona-based Puig family, heavyweights in the fashion and fragrance industry.
The eccentric icon, whose real name was Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, used metal, plastic and paper to create his space-age designs (pictured in 1966)
The designer pictured in front of one of his boutiques in Paris
His designs brought him immediate fame and notoriety when he stunned the audience with ’12 Unwearable Dresses’
Spanish designer Paco Rabanne (pictured in 1999) has died aged 88 in Portsall, Brittany
Rabanne acknowledges applause at the end of his 1999 spring/summer haute couture show in Paris
His stardom reached further heights when in 1968 he designed the iconic green Barbarella outfit worn by Jane Fonda in the eponymous film
He also dressed Audrey Hepburn, Mia Farrow and Françoise Hardy during the height of his fame.
He famously dressed global superstar Lady Gaga in outfits made entirely of paper for her 2011 appearance at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
It marked his entry into perfumes that would see his name become synonymous with cologne, ultimately even eclipsing his fame as a designer.
A statement shared on his official Instagram account said: ‘The House of Paco Rabanne wishes to honour our visionary designer and founder who passed away today at the age of 88.
‘Among the most seminal fashion figures of the 20th century, his legacy will remain a constant source of inspiration.
‘We are grateful to Monsieur Rabanne for establishing our avant-garde heritage and defining a future of limitless possibilities.’
Rabanne poses with a model wearing a white dress with a metallic headpiece after presenting his 1992/93 autumn-winter haute couture collection in Paris
The bold stylist was branded the ‘enfant terrible’ of the fashion world after he presented his innovative designs at his early shows
Rabanne tastes his model’s dress made of chocolate as he showcased his esoteric designs
José Manuel Albesa, president of Puig’s fashion and beauty division, said: ‘Paco Rabanne made transgression magnetic. Who else could induce fashionable Parisian women to clamor for dresses made of plastic and metal?
‘Who but Paco Rabanne could imagine a fragrance called Calandre – the word means automobile grill, you know – and turn it into an icon of modern femininity?
‘That radical, rebellious spirit set him apart. There is only one Rabanne. With his passing, we are reminded once again of his enormous influence on contemporary fashion, a spirit that lives on in the house that bears his name.’
Marc Puig, chairman and chief executive officer of Puig, added: ‘A major personality in fashion, his was a daring, revolutionary and provocative vision, conveyed through a unique aesthetic.
‘He will remain an important source of inspiration for the Puig fashion and fragrance teams, who continuously work together to express Mr Paco Rabanne’s radically modern codes. I extend my sincere condolences to his family and to those who have known him.’
