Although for many millennials his name is just a perfume brand, Paco Rabanne was an international fashion icon. At the age of 88, he died at his home in northwestern France.
Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo was born in the town of Pasajes (Guipúzcoa, Spain). His father was the Republican colonel Francisco Rabaneda Postigo, he was shot by Franco’s troops during the Spanish Civil War, and his mother became Balenciaga’s chief seamstress. In 1939, his family went into exile in Morlaix (France). Many years later, having become Paco Rabanne, he referred to himself like this: “You would never imagine that the little Breton from Morlaix, the son of very poor refugees, would one day be known throughout the world.”
Rabanne studied Architecture at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and by the end of his studies he had produced sketches showing his drive to decipher the language of fashion. He then went on to collaborate designing accessories for Christian Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Cardin. In the 1960s he unleashed his style of futuristic aesthetics and in 1966 he broke through with a second collection of dresses made of contemporary materials such as metal. For that collection he was baptized by Coco Chanel, as the “metallurgist” of fashion. “My mother used to tell me that you have all the rights when you dress a woman; the only thing you can’t do is destroy her beauty,” said Rabanne, who always sought that. In addition, he made costumes for movies and in 1968 he associated with the Puig company and launched his first perfume. The success of the scent led to new fragrances and a turnover that made him a millionaire.
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