Fashion designer Paco Rabanne dies aged 88
Paco Rabanne, the Spanish-born designer best known for his metal ensembles and 1960s space-age designs, has died aged 88 in Portsall, Brittany.
The icon, real name Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, captured the fashion world in the 1960s with her futuristic looks, with her first all-plastic collection.
He retired in 1999 and has rarely been seen in public since.
His death was confirmed by a spokesman for Spanish band Puig, which controls the Paco Rabanne label he left two decades ago.
Spanish designer Paco Rabanne (pictured in 1999) has died aged 88 in Portsall, Brittany
José Manuel Albesa, president of the fashion and beauty division of Puig, said: “Paco Rabanne made the transgression magnetic. Who else could inspire fashionable Parisiennes to demand plastic and metal dresses?
“Who but Paco Rabanne could imagine a fragrance called Calandre – the word means car grill, you know – and make it an icon of modern femininity?”
“This radical and rebellious spirit set him apart: there is only one Rabanne. With her passing, we are once again remembered for her enormous influence on contemporary fashion, a spirit that lives on in the house that bears her name.’
Rabanne greets applause at the end of her Spring/Summer 1999 haute couture show in Paris
Marc Puig, President and CEO of Puig, added: “A major fashion personality, it was a bold, 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 work together constantly to express the radically modern codes of Mr. Paco Rabanne. I offer my sincere condolences to his family and to those who knew him.
This is breaking news. More soon.
