“Perpetual Secretary Laurent Petitgirard and members of the Academy of Fine Arts are deeply saddened to announce the death of their colleague Pierre Cardin. He was elected president of Pierre Dux on February 12, 1992,” the Academy of Fine Arts said.
Pierre Cardin photographed in one of his stores in Paris in April 2016. Credit: Joel Saget / AFP / Getty Images
Her creations have adorned many stars of the day, including Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Streisand, Jeanne Moreau, Jackie Kennedy, Charlotte Rampling, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
Cardin was one of the first designers to capitalize on the fashion business, becoming a well-known name due to its strong branding.
He also broke with tradition with his futuristic designs – and by producing unisex and ready-to-wear collections at a time when both were effectively unheard of.
Cardin was born in 1922 in San Biagio di Callalta, a small town in northeastern Italy, about 30 miles from Venice. Pietro was born, but became known as Pierre after his family moved to France to escape fascism two years later.
Pierre Cardin created a dress for Danielle Lebrun in 1962. Credit: Lipnitzki / Roger Viollet / Getty Images
In his youth, his first steps in fashion coincided with his move to Paris, where he worked on the costumes for Jean Cocteau’s film version of “Beauty and the Beast.” In 1946, he was hired as a tailor by his later mentor, Christian Dior, who had just opened his fashion house in Paris.
Four years later, at the age of 28, Cardin founded his own fashion brand of the same name, first designing theatrical costumes and then moving into haute couture in 1953.
Fashion innovations
Her breaking creation was the bubble dress – the so-called bubble shape of the waist-to-hem area – which she designed in 1954. It proved to be a commercial success worldwide, preparing the stage for a string of fashion innovations.
Hoping to make designer clothing affordable, he launched his first clothing collection at Printemps stores in Paris in 1959, a move so outrageous that he expelled him from the Chambre Syndicale, the governing body of French haute couture (he will soon be reinstated, before leaving voluntarily in 1966).
Denise Cox models a wool dress and cape designed by Pierre Cardin. Credit: John Minihan / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Pierre Cardin sits in his studio surrounded by models. Credit: Pierre Vauthey / Sygma / Getty Images
Displaying a new early business, Cardin was among the first foreign designers to open stores in Japan, China and Russia. He pioneered modern branding, borrowing his name from a variety of products – including perfumes, watches, cigarettes and even frying pans – raising his eyebrows in the traditional fashion world and earning serious money that he invested in real estate.
Acquisitions of the designer’s properties included a castle in Provence, once owned by the Marquis de Sade, and the famous Maxim’s restaurant in Paris, which he turned into a global chain with locations in New York, Beijing and elsewhere.
In the 1960s, Cardin combined his interest in space exploration – he was photographed wearing Buzz Aldrin’s space suit two years after landing – with a fascination with technical fabrics, by creating revolutionary unisex collections from the space age.
Pierre Cardin presents his collection in Moscow in 1986. Credit: Daniel Simon / Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images
One of her special clothes, a pink dress composed of molded 3D shapes and made of a fabric of her creation, Cardine, was famously worn by actress Lauren Bacall in 1968.
Both countries of Cardin’s origin offered him recognition: in 1987, Italy named him Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, while in 1991, France named him Officer of the Legion of Honor. In the same year, UNESCO made the designer a goodwill ambassador.