The boundary-pushing fashion designer Paco Rabanne passed away this weekend at age 88 and is survived by his history-making career. The Spanish-born designer made an indelible mark on the fashion industry, pioneering space-age fashion in the mid-60s with his futuristic designs rendered in metal and plastic fabrics.
“Among the most seminal fashion figures of the 20th century, his legacy will remain a constant source of inspiration,” the Paco Rabanne brand said in its official statement on Instagram. The late designer’s namesake fashion house is steadfast in its mission to honour Rabanne’s vision and design principles as it moves forward. Ahead, we remember key moments in the late designer’s career that have influenced fashion as we know it today.
“Twelve unwearable Dresses”
“Twelve Unwearable Dresses” was Rabanne’s 1966 couture collection, released after his first collection, “Twelve Experimental Dresses,” in 1964. It was set against the cultural backdrop of The Space Race, a social revolution, and a rising counterculture movement and popular fashion then reflected these social changes.
Rabanne’s couture styles were just as pivotal to the moment as the invention of the miniskirt and the popularisation of go-go boots. With metal materials and mini dress silhouettes, Rabanne painted an optimistic idea of the future that resembled something out of The Jetsons utopic fantasy. If seeing is believing, then his designs gave people a hopeful vision for the future, or at least what we would wear in the future.
as seen on Audrey in Two For The Road (1967)
Rabanne’s designs first appeared onscreen in the 1967 film Two for the Road, where Audrey Hepburn wore the designer’s iconic chainmail-inspired dress. The scene featured Hepburn (as Joanna Wallace) dancing on a night out and was evidence of the style’s party-ready aesthetic.
costuming Barbarella (1968)
Costuming the science fiction film Barbarella was a landmark moment for Rabanne’s career, dressing Jane Fonda (pictured above), who was the principal role in the movie. His exploratory style and armour-like approach to women’s fashion created onscreen alchemy with Barbarella’s space-age “saviour of the universe” storyline.
accumulating A-List Clienete
Paco Rabanne is a celebrity-loved fashion brand to this day and is worn by stylish stars like Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian. However, the designer’s famous clientele stretches back to the 60s and was worn by fashion icons like Françoise Hardy (pictured above) and Brigitte Bardot.
