Paco Rabanne: these iconic looks that built his legend

Designer Paco Rabanne passed away in 2023 at the age of 88. A dream designer with an exceptional avant-garde, the Franco-Spanish designer changed the face of fashion during his 50-year career.

There was a before and after Paco Rabanne , that’s obvious. He was one of those figures in the art world who wanted to revolutionize his field, and not just make his own contribution (or his own little piece of metal). If today his name is associated with a mainstream perfume bestseller and even a few risky predictions à la Nostradamus, Paco Rabanne was a visionary of the good of all sides. An extraordinary mastery of pattern making, an unparalleled bias for mind-blowing materials and a love of geometric silhouettes… This is what built the temple and the legend of Paco Rabanne. His legacy is no longer in doubt and his style remains eternal. It was in Spain that the iconic designer was born, on February 18, 1934 in Pasaia, in the province of Guipuzcoa. It was thanks to his mother that Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, his real name, discovered the world of couture. Indeed, the latter works for Cristobal Balenciaga, the greatest couturier of the 20th century. Although he lived in Brittany throughout his youth, after fleeing the Francoists in Spain, Paco Rabanne moved to Paris at the age of 17 and studied architecture at the Ecole nationale des Beaux-arts. Years of training that will likely influence his way of designing dresses, as you will have understood.

Fashion branded with a hot iron

“He’s not a couturier, he’s a metallurgist,” Coco Chanel said of him. He got his start in fashion with the greatest. Yes, while many young students today would do anything to work with the biggest names in the fashion world, he only did it to finance his studies. He made fashion sketches, shoe designs for Charles Jourdan, then became an accessorist for major fashion houses like Nina Ricci, Pierre Cardin and even Balenciaga, where it all began. But it was in 1966, at just 32 years old, that everything changed when he introduced metals that looked like they came from a shipyard into women’s wardrobes. The haute couture collection called “Manifesto” consisted of “12 unwearable dresses in contemporary materials.” His chainmail dresses fascinate, his fashion shows-presentations break the codes of the austere era… Paco Rabanne almost causes a scandal but nevertheless attracts all the most prominent stars of the moment. The idols of the swinging sixties including Françoise Hardy and Jane Birkin delight in these futuristic creations. It must be said that at a glance, it is possible to recognize a Paco Rabanne dress. It is the prerogative of the greats of fashion. All the celebrities want to be draped – so to speak – in a Paco Rabanne creation. He also collaborates with the cinema and designs the costumes of the American icon of the moment Jane Fonda who is about to land the most decisive role of her career. Obviously, fans of Mylène Farmer will remember the iconic costumes imagined by the couturier for the singer’s Tour 96. Virginal and cosmic silhouettes that highlighted the silhouette of the red-haired legend. Although Paco Rabanne has gradually moved away from the catwalks since 1999, he is still as present on the red carpets and in the hearts of fashionistas. Lady Gaga delivers a legendary performance in a cosmic outfit by the French house, as do the Olsen sisters – empresses of a very particular look – who decide to wear vintage bohemian dresses by Paco Rabanne at the MET Gala 2018 on the theme of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”. And yes, the circle is complete, Paco Rabanne is now one of the saints.