I realised we didn't have a thread on Pierre Cardin, and I think he deserves one...
Pierre Cardin is best known nowadays for endorsing everything from cigarette lighters and olive oil to orthopedic mattresses, but he was a very important designer during a couple of decades.
Pierre Cardin was born on July 7, 1922, near Venice, Italy, to French parents. He moved to Paris in 1945. There he studied architecture and worked with Paquin after the war. Work with Schiaparelli followed until he became head of Christian Dior's tailleure atelier in 1947, but was denied work at Balenciaga. He founded his own house in 1950 and began with haute couture in 1953. He was known for his avant-garde style, to be a space age designer. He prefers geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the female form. He introduced the "bubble dress" in 1954.
In 1957 Cardin opened a menswear boutique in Paris where he sold new, informal men's gear like collarless jackets and roll neck jumpers. He made collarless suits which the Beatles' later stage costume resembled.
Most of Cardin's early designs were day suits and coats with raglan sleeves, dresses that foreshadowed the sack line with their front-defined waistlines and Watteau backs. Some suits and dresses had tulip-shaped skirts and boxy waists, brushing jackets with rolled or scarf-tied collars. He also designed coats with draped hemlines, bubble skirts and unstructured chemises. Cardin had perfected immaculate, sleek tailoring and allowed his febrile admiration to catch fire. His clothes had the trappings of science-fiction and space travel.
The world gasped at his space age 3-D shift, his astronaut men's look and his "white breasts" dress. He made dresses out of vinyl, hammered metal rings, broaches of carpenters nails, and diamonds. The clothes shrunk in size as the patterns grew. Knitted catsuits, tight leather trousers, close-fitting helmets and batwing jumpsuits were all in his collections. He advanced into unisex fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical.
Cardin was the first couturier to turn to Japan as a high fashion market when he travelled there in 1959. In 1959, he was also expelled from the Chambre Syndicale for launching a ready-to-wear collection for the Printemps department store as the first couturier in Paris, but was soon reinstated. However, he resigned from the Chambre Syndicale in 1966 and now shows his collections in his own venue, the Espace Cardin (opened 1971) in Paris, formerly the Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, near the American Embassy. The Espace Cardin is also used to promote new artistic talents, like theater ensembles, musicians, etc.
Sources: V&A, wikipedia
Pics: pierrecardin.com, V&A
Pierre Cardin is best known nowadays for endorsing everything from cigarette lighters and olive oil to orthopedic mattresses, but he was a very important designer during a couple of decades.
Pierre Cardin was born on July 7, 1922, near Venice, Italy, to French parents. He moved to Paris in 1945. There he studied architecture and worked with Paquin after the war. Work with Schiaparelli followed until he became head of Christian Dior's tailleure atelier in 1947, but was denied work at Balenciaga. He founded his own house in 1950 and began with haute couture in 1953. He was known for his avant-garde style, to be a space age designer. He prefers geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the female form. He introduced the "bubble dress" in 1954.
In 1957 Cardin opened a menswear boutique in Paris where he sold new, informal men's gear like collarless jackets and roll neck jumpers. He made collarless suits which the Beatles' later stage costume resembled.
Most of Cardin's early designs were day suits and coats with raglan sleeves, dresses that foreshadowed the sack line with their front-defined waistlines and Watteau backs. Some suits and dresses had tulip-shaped skirts and boxy waists, brushing jackets with rolled or scarf-tied collars. He also designed coats with draped hemlines, bubble skirts and unstructured chemises. Cardin had perfected immaculate, sleek tailoring and allowed his febrile admiration to catch fire. His clothes had the trappings of science-fiction and space travel.
The world gasped at his space age 3-D shift, his astronaut men's look and his "white breasts" dress. He made dresses out of vinyl, hammered metal rings, broaches of carpenters nails, and diamonds. The clothes shrunk in size as the patterns grew. Knitted catsuits, tight leather trousers, close-fitting helmets and batwing jumpsuits were all in his collections. He advanced into unisex fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical.
Cardin was the first couturier to turn to Japan as a high fashion market when he travelled there in 1959. In 1959, he was also expelled from the Chambre Syndicale for launching a ready-to-wear collection for the Printemps department store as the first couturier in Paris, but was soon reinstated. However, he resigned from the Chambre Syndicale in 1966 and now shows his collections in his own venue, the Espace Cardin (opened 1971) in Paris, formerly the Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, near the American Embassy. The Espace Cardin is also used to promote new artistic talents, like theater ensembles, musicians, etc.
Sources: V&A, wikipedia
Pics: pierrecardin.com, V&A
you're welcome, google is a moody friend
