RABANNE, PACO

Rabanne, Paco: translation

(1934- )

Born Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo in San Sebastian, Spain, he and his mother fled to France in 1939, during the Spanish Civil War, after his father was executed by Francisco Franco's regime. Rabanne studied architecture at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-arts and, in 1963, won an award for his garden sculpture, which was exhibited in the Museé d'art moderne de la ville de Paris. As a student in the 1950s and 1960s, Rabanne sold drawings of handbags to Roger Model and drawings of shoes toCharles Jourdan. He designed dresses under the name Franck Rabanne, which were published in 1959 inWomen's Wear Daily.Rabanne and his mother, a former seamstress at the house ofBalenciagain Spain, had a small business producing unusual buttons and embroideries forcouturehouses in Paris until 1966. In 1965, Rabanne created oversized jewelry in bright colors using untraditional materials that was featured in the collections ofGivenchy,Dior, and Balenciaga, which gained him media attention. In 1966, he showed his first collection in Paris, Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials, and his reputation as France's enfant terrible was sealed.

Rabanne was famous for the use of unconventional materials such as coconuts, rhodöid discs, paper, plastic paillettes, wood, laser discs, the patented Giffo process of molding buttons and pockets into a garment block, and his signature metal ring seaming techniques. His designs were in great demand for their artistic and innovative character and for their space-agefuturisticlook. He was also a favoritecostume designerof the theater, ballet, and cinema. His costumes for the movieBarbarella, in 1968, are legendary as were his chain mail dresses for the filmWho Are You,Molly Magoo? As is the case with mostdesignersof his stature, Rabanne created a line offragrancesbeginning in 1969 with Calandre. In 1991, Rabanne published a book on paranormal phenomena calledTrajectoire, a subject that he would often write about. His other books areEl Fin de Los Tiempos(1995),La Iluminaciôn del Budismo(1997),Dawn of the Golden Age:A Spiritual Design For Living(1999), andJourney:From One Life to Another(1999). Rabanne closed his couture and unisex Paco business in 1999 but continued his manylicensesand fragrances. The Puig Group, a Barcelona-based beauty and fashion conglomerate, reopened theready-to-wearcollection in 2000 with Rabanne and Spanish designer Rosemary Rodriquez. In 2006, American designer Patrick Robinson replaced Rodriquez ascreative director.