Designer Paco Rabanne, who shocked the fashion world with his daring and unwearable runway looks in the 1960s, has died aged 88 in Brittany.
The eccentric icon, whose real name is Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, used metals, plastics and paper to create his space-age designs, which led to him being dismissed as ‘the metal worker’ by Coco Chanel.
The designer nicknamed ‘Wacko Paco’, who claimed he has had multiple lives and was previously a Parisian prostitute in the times of Louis XV, murdered Tutankhamun and was 78,000 years old, retired in 1999 and had rarely been seen in public since.
He also claimed to have met God on multiple occasions, been visited by aliens, and had sex with the earth, and predicted in 1999 that Paris would be destroyed later that year when the Russian space station Mir crashed down to Earth.
Designer Paco Rabanne, who shocked the fashion world with his daring and unwearable runway looks in the 1960s, has died aged 88 in Brittany
Born in 1934 shortly before the Spanish Civil War, Rabanne’s father, a Republican colonel, was shot dead by Francoist troops.
His mother worked as the chief seamstress at Cristóbal Balenciaga’s first fashion house in the Basque country in Spain before moving the family to Paris.
In the French capital, the young Rabanne started making sketches for Dior and Givenchy in his spare time from his architecture degree, and then worked at a concrete producer for 10 years.
But his passion for design could not be dulled and he began making jewellery for luxury brands before starting his own fashion house in 1966.
The bold stylist was branded the ‘enfant terrible’ of the fashion world when his debut runways showcased his innovative designs, using unconventional materials such as metals, paper and plastic.
His stardom reached further heights when in 1968 he designed the iconic Barbarella green outfit worn by Jane Fonda in the eponymous film.
The eccentric icon, whose real name is Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, used metals, plastics and paper to create his space-age designs (pictured in 1966)
The designer is pictured in front of one of his boutique shops in Paris
Spanish designer Paco Rabanne (pictured in 1999) has died aged 88 in Portsall, Brittany
Rabanne acknowledges applause at the end of his 1999 Spring/Summer haute couture show in Paris
His stardom reached further heights when in 1968 he designed the iconic Barbarella green outfit worn by Jane Fonda in the eponymous film
He also dressed Audrey Hepburn, Mia Farrow and Françoise Hardy during the height of his fame.
He famously dressed global superstar Lady Gaga in outfits made entirely of paper for her 2011 appearance at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Aside from clothing, Rabanne was also a big name in the fragrance world and made a range of popular perfues for men and women.
José Manuel Albesa, president of Puig’s fashion and beauty division, said: ‘Paco Rabanne made transgression magnetic. Who else could induce fashionable Parisian women to clamor for dresses made of plastic and metal?
‘Who but Paco Rabanne could imagine a fragrance called Calandre – the word means automobile grill, you know – and turn it into an icon of modern femininity?
‘That radical, rebellious spirit set him apart: There is only one Rabanne. With his passing, we are reminded once again of his enormous influence on contemporary fashion, a spirit that lives on in the house that bears his name.’
Marc Puig, chairman and chief executive officer of Puig, added: ‘A major personality in fashion, his was a daring, 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 continuously work together to express Mr. Paco Rabanne’s radically modern codes. I extend my sincere condolences to his family and to those who have known him.’