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“Unwearable” when applied to clothing is usually a criticism. But the term was honored when designer Paco Rabanne called his 1966 collection “12 unwearable clothes in modern materials.” His radical clothing made of plastic and metal discs and discs catapulted him into the popular consciousness as an avant-garde yet glamorous designer. He was behind some of the most memorable looks of the 1960s.
Raban, who has died aged 88, was a modernist of the 1960s fashion scene, creating designs that echoed the decade’s obsession with space travel. It is associated with the “Space Age” movement in fashion, with Andre Courages and Pierre Cardin both capturing the youthful energy of the day in different ways.
Raban was born Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo in 1934 in the Basque region of Spain. He was first introduced to style as head tailor at his mother’s place at Cristóbal Balenciaga’s couture atelier in San Sebastian. But he and his mother emigrated to France after their Republican colonel father was killed by Francoist troops during the Spanish Civil War.
In the year Between 1951 and 1963, Raban studied architecture at the Ecole National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He supported himself by selling buttons and creating designs for famous fashion houses such as Balenciaga, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel. In the year In 1965, he created an interesting, optical art jewelry made of rhodium plastic called pacotyles.
The designer considers “12 unwearable clothes” as a manifesto for his creative approach. The Hotel George V in Paris provided the backdrop for the dramatic performance of the poet and composer Pierre Boulez. A hammer without a master. Unlike traditional sewing with needle and thread, he used pliers, hammer and torch to declare “the death of cloth”. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel as “metallurgist de la modeHe said.
Alexandre Samson, fashion curator and historian at the Palais Galliera Museum, described the designer as “a trailblazer for his use of materials.” He was the first high fashion designer to turn his back on classical fabric.” According to Samson, his “unique structures” are mixed with ancient Egyptian, medieval and Middle Eastern influences.
Raban’s creative magic was not limited to looks. In the year In a 2002 New York Times article, veteran fashion editor Polly Mellen recalled that when she tried on the dress, she found it “so beautifully balanced.” Mellen recounts witnessing a woman turn up at a Mozart concert dressed as a mermaid in a disco dress – Raban’s creation. “She came in late and stopped the concert because she looked like a wind chime.”
In the year In the 1960s, Raban’s designs were worn by some of the stars who defined the age: the famous French singer Francois Hardy, Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin. He designed clothes for Jane Fonda Barbarella and for Audrey Hepburn in Two for the road. He also worked with Salvador Dali; He once said, “There are only two wise men in Spain, me and Paco Raban.”
Rabanne’s personal wardrobe was minimal, consisting of black shirts for both laborers and monks, and his lifestyle was simple. But he held some unexpected views. He believed that he lived in the past, and subscribed to the predictions of Nostradamus.
In the year In 1968, the Spanish luxury company bought Paco Rabanne perfumes and later created a rose perfume called Callander, a metallic hint meant to suggest “working at Rolls Royce”. These include Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, launched in 1973, and 1 Million Perfumes, launched in 2008.
José Manuel Albesa, president of Puig’s beauty and fashion division, said of Raban: “He magnetized transgression. Who can make fashionable Parisian women leave their plastic and metal dresses? Who but Paco Rabanne could imagine a fragrance called Calender – the word means ‘automobile grill’, you know – and turn it into an icon of modern femininity?
Raban retired from fashion in 1999. But the eponymous label’s cachet has grown in recent years under creative director Julian Dossena, who reinvented the label’s signature metalwork and minidresses for a modern party-loving clientele.
Samson says: “There is a dream among designers to produce seamless clothes in fashion, and Paco Rabanne has succeeded in doing this in his own way because he has created collections that are no longer about sewing. There was another way to create clothes. “
carola.long@ft.com
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