Italian-born naturalised-French designer of elegant clothes for women and a pioneer in the design of high fashion for men. A prophet of style, the innovator of many concepts and products, the only designer ever to be elected to the prestigious French Academy, he turned his signature into one of the world’s most respected and familiar brand names.
Cardin’s father, a wealthy French wine merchant, wanted him to study architecture, but from childhood he was interested in dressmaking. At 17 he went to Vichy, France to become a tailor at a men’s shop. He moved to Paris in 1945 and did study architecture as his father wished. After World War II he joined the Parisian fashion house of Paquin, where he designed the costumes for Jean Cocteau’s film, Beauty and the Beast. Later, he worked with Schiaparelli until he became head of Christian Dior’s tailleur atelier in 1947. At Dior he became one of the designers of the “New Look” and created his famous “Bar” suit with long, black skirt and fitted jacket.
In 1950 Cardin opened his own shop to design gowns for the popular Parisian costume balls, as well as everyday fashions for men and women. He began with haute couture in 1953. Gradually, he gained a solid reputation as a men’s suit-maker and branched into whimsical accessories for men with his avant-garde style. Favoring geometric shapes and motifs, he often ignored the female shape. He introduced the “bubble dress” in 1954. His unisex fashions were often experimental, and not always practical. In 1959 he created the first ready-to-wear collection for women ever presented by a top designer, followed in 1960 by the first designer ready-to-wear collection for men. He excelled with the bias cut, soft semi-fitted look, and lots of color. Cardin was the first to reach Japan as a high fashion market in 1959. In the late 1960s his stark, short tunics, and his use of vinyl, helmets, and goggles launched the Space Age look. His ready-to-wear line of men’s clothing has influenced other designers, such as the American designer Bill Blass.
In 1959, Cardin was expelled from the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture et du Prˆt-…-Porter for launching his ready-to-wear collection but was soon reinstated. However, he resigned from the Chambre Syndicale in 1966. As the first designer to diversify, he utilized his architectural background in 1970 to buy the former Th‚ƒtre des Ambassadeurs, near the Champs-Elys‚es, and transform it into a show venue, the Espace Cardin. The Espace Cardin is also used to promote new artistic talents, like theater ensembles and musicians. In 1978, he signed production agreements with the Soviet Union. Cardin purchased Maxim’s restaurants in 1981 and soon opened locations in New York, London, and then in Beijing in 1983 – the West’s first restaurant in China. Cardin also licensed a wide range of food products under the Maxim?s name. Like many other designers today, Cardin decided in 1994 to show his collection only to a small circle of selected clients and journalists.
He was a member of the Maison du Haute Couture from 1953 to 1993. His fellow designer, AndrŠ Oliver, who joined him in 1971 and took over the haute couture collections in 1987, died in 1993.
The Cardin empire extends to more than 100 countries and indirectly provides employment to 180,000 people in 700 factories. His name is already on some 800 products, including floor tiles, jams, pots and pans and ties. Pierre Cardin was the undisputed king of designer licensing and merchandising. He once posed on the cover of Time magazine clad in a Pierre Cardin bath towel. At the head of a veritable empire, Pierre Cardin loved contrasts. Received abroad as practically a head of state, at home he slept in a monk’s cell with a view on the Elys‚e Palace. He was a futurist who hated computers. He never borrowed a single franc from a bank. He self-financed everything and did not advertise (except for his perfumes) and re-invested his profits in property. “Money is only a means,” he said, “my lifestyle has not changed in twenty years.” He accumulated titles as he did his Boule furniture, parrots and dresses, which he kept in a “personal museum.”
Apparently Cardin was mostly gay, but in the 1960s he had a four-year affair with actress Jeanne Moreau. His long-term business partner and life partner was fellow French fashion designer Andr‚ Oliver, who died in 1993. Pierre Cardin died on 29 December 2020 at the American Hospital, Neuilly-sur-Seine at age 98.
Link to Wikipedia biography