The fashion world mourns a legend. As stated on his official profiles, the famed designer Paco Rabanne died at the age of 88 at his home in Portstall, northwest France. The French-Spanish designer was a giant in the world of fashion and perfumes.
“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,” his name-bearing company said in a statement.
Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, better known as Paco Rabanne, was born in Spain’s Basque region on February 18, 1934. His mother was the chief seamstress at Cristobal Balenciaga’s workshop in San Sebastian. Rabanne’s father, a Spanish Republican Colonel, was executed by Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces in 1939, the final year of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). The event prompted the family to relocate to France.
Paco Rabanne rose to prominence in the 1960s with his avant-garde designs, often using metal and plastic. French singer Françoise Hardy famously wore a Paco Rabanne dress made of metallic plaques in 1968, while he also designed dresses worn by Jane Fonda in the 1967 film Barbarella.
An eccentric to the end, he spent the latter part of his life away from the media spotlight in his much loved Brittany.
Text and cover photo courtesy of EFE