Paco Rabanne, the Spanish-born designer best known for his 1960s metallic ensembles and space age designs, has died at the age of 88.
The namesake label she founded more than two decades ago hailed her as “one of the most seminal fashion figures of the 20th century”.
Raban dressed some of the most prominent stars of the 1960s, including French singer Francois Hardy, whose designer outfits included a minidress made of gold plates and a metallic link jumpsuit, as well as Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. , which were painted in matching silver cloth.
Among her most famous looks were the fitted, skin-baring ensemble worn by Jane Fonda in Roger Vadim’s cult science fiction film “Barbarella”.
The death of Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, Paco Rabanne’s birth name, was confirmed by a spokesman for the Spanish conglomerate Puig, which now controls the fashion house.
“A prominent personality in fashion, she had a bold, revolutionary and provocative vision, expressed through a unique aesthetic,” said Mark Puig, President and CEO of Puig.
Born in 1934 in a village in the Spanish Basque region, his mother was a prominent seamstress at Balenciaga. He died at Portsalle in Brittany.
Raban grew up in France, where the family moved after Spanish soldiers shot and killed his father, who was a Republican commander during the Civil War.
He studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He began his career making handbags for a supplier of prestigious fashion houses including Givenchy and Chanel, as well as shoes for Charles Jourdan.
He then ventured into fashion, designing clothing and jewelery with unconventional materials such as metal and plastic.