Paco Rabanne, visionary fashion designer, dies at 88

Paco Rabanne, the Spanish-born fashion designer known for his avant-garde use of unconventional materials like metal and plastic, has died at 88. Born Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo in 1934 in Pasaia (San Sebastian), he fled to Brittany during the Spanish Civil War with his mother, a head seamstress at Cristóbal Balenciaga's atelier. After studying architecture at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he began designing jewelry for Givenchy, Dior, and Balenciaga before founding his own maison in 1966. His first collection, 'Manifesto,' presented at the Hôtel George V, shocked the haute couture world with metal dresses that required preheating with a hairdryer. Coco Chanel called him 'the metallurgist of fashion,' while Salvador Dalí considered him Spain's second genius. His sculptural dresses were worn by Jane Birkin, Audrey Hepburn (in 'Two for the Road'), and Jane Fonda (in 'Barbarella'). He also designed costumes for the James Bond franchise. Rabanne pioneered the use of music as a runway soundtrack and launched his first fragrance, Calandre, in 1969. He retired to Brittany in 1999. The maison, owned by the Puig group since 1986, is now led by creative director Julien Dossena and will show at Paris Fashion Week starting February 27. In 2017, the Real Academia de San Fernando in Madrid held an exhibition of his iconic creations.