“Perpetual Secretary Laurent Petitgirard and members of the Academy of Fine Arts are deeply saddened to announce the death of their colleague Pierre Cardin. He had been elected on February 12, 1992 to the presidency of Pierre Dux,” the Academy of Fine Arts said.
Pierre Cardin photographed in one of his stores in Paris in April 2016. Credit: Joel Saget / AFP / Getty Images
Her creations adorned many stars of the day, including Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Streisand, Jeanne Moreau, Jackie Kennedy, Charlotte Rampling, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones.
Cardin was one of the first designers to capitalize on the business side of fashion, becoming a well-known name thanks to powerful branding.
He also broke with tradition through his futuristic designs and the production of iconic unisex and tailoring collections at a time when both were effectively unpublished.
Cardin was born in 1922 in San Biagio di Callalta, a small town in northeastern Italy about 20 miles from Venice. Pietro was born, but became known as Pierre after his family moved to France to escape fascism two years later.
Pierre Cardin created a dress for Danielle Lebrun in 1962. Credit: Lipnitzki / Roger Viollet / Getty Images
As a young man, his first steps into fashion coincided with a move to Paris, where he worked on the costumes for Jean Cocteau’s film version of “Beauty and the Beast.” In 1946 he was hired as a tailor by his later mentor, Christian Dior, who had just opened his haute couture house in Paris.
Four years later, at the age of 28, Cardin founded his own fashion brand of the same name, first designing theater costumes and then settling into haute couture in 1953.
Fashion innovations
His innovative creation was the bubble suit, so named because of the bubble shape of the area between the waist and the edge of the hem, which he designed in 1954. He was commercially successful worldwide, being the setting for to a number of fashion innovations.
Hoping to make designer clothes more accessible, he launched his first prêt-à-porter collection at the Printemps department store in Paris in 1959, a movement so outrageous that he was expelled from the Chambre Syndicale. the body that governs French haute couture (it would be restored soon after, before leaving voluntarily in 1966).
Denise Cox modeling a dress and a wool coat designed by Pierre Cardin. Credit: John Minihan / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Pierre Cardin is in his studio surrounded by models. Credit: Pierre Vauthey / Sygma / Getty Images
With a first business, Cardin was one of the first foreign designers to open stores in Japan, China and Russia. He pioneered the modern brand by giving his name to a wide variety of products, including perfumes, watches, cigarettes and even pans, raising his eyebrows in the world of traditional fashion and earning significant money that he invested in real estate.
Among the designer’s property purchases were a castle in Provence, owned by the Marquis de Sade, and the famous Maxim’s restaurant in Paris, which he transformed into a global chain with locations in New York, Beijing and elsewhere.
In the 1960s, Cardin combined his interest in space exploration (photographed with Buzz Aldrin’s space suit two years after landing on the moon) with a fascination with technical fabrics by creating innovative unisex collections. of the space age.
Pierre Cardin presented his collection in Moscow in 1986. Credit: Daniel Simon / Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images
One of her most notable pieces, a pink dress made up of 3D modeled shapes and made with a fabric of her own creation, Cardine, was famously worn by actress Lauren Bacall in 1968.
Both Cardin countries of origin offered him recognition: in 1987, Italy named him Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, while in 1991, France made him an Officer of the Legion of Honor. . In the same year, UNESCO turned the designer into a goodwill ambassador.