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blogs.wsj.com
After a Decade, Pierre Cardin Returns to the Runway
By Christina Passariello
Pierre Cardin’s space-age outfits seemed futuristic in the 1960s.
But when several dozen new versions took a spin down the Paris runway Wednesday, they looked like a retrospective.
The 88-year old designer hasn’t shown a Paris runway collection in 10 years, and he made up for lost time Wednesday with a marathon 45-minute show of 300 outfits.
That’s three times as long and five times as many clothes as even the biggest fashion houses - and the way many houses used to show their collections before the fast pace of short clothing seasons and rushed buyers and editors took over.
Mr. Cardin said the collection wasn’t a retrospective, and that he’s not backward-looking. His inspiration came from lasers and satellites, to produce something contemporary and futuristic. But he believes that what looked good 40 years ago is still current today.
“What you need to do is strike hard and then be copied,” Mr. Cardin said backstage. “It’s a sign you’re a designer when you’re copied.”
Cutting-edge designers such Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquiere have drawn from Cardin’s looks, but moved them forward in a way Mr. Cardin didn’t do Wednesday.
The name Pierre Cardin may ring a bell – perhaps you have some of his underwear, or an umbrella, cigarette lighter or a PC tablet. In the 1970s and 80s, Mr. Cardin began farming out his name to anyone who would pay a fee to put it on their products; the licensing wave he started tarnished the designer fashion industry for more than a decade.
Now brands such as Dior and Gucci have reeled in their license businesses, while Mr. Cardin’s name is still spread wide.
But Mr. Cardin says he still loves designing clothes the most. He threw everything into Wednesday’s collection - men’s and women’s, summer and winter, sportswear and formal wear. The show decor was underwhelming: gray plastic conference chairs were lined up in two rows of unassigned seating, and the models walked on the gray office carpet that covered the floor of the Espace Cardin rental hall.
The first looks were a throwback to Cardin’s heyday: men’s and women’s catsuits in fuschia, brown or purple with stiff hoops accentuating the hips, knees and elbows. Accessories were just as outrageous. A man wore a mini tire around his wrist. Women strutted in extra-large hats in the shape of cherries or cones.
Then he followed with less iconic a-line minidresses with a rainbow of narrow stripes around the arm holes and hem. Boxy silk-print jackets were paired with polyester trousers. “They’re very commercial,” Mr. Cardin said. “I mixed in some retail pieces because I need to sell.”
Now Mr. Cardin is thinking about the future of his company. He said he is close to selling it, but would not say who the buyer is.
“It’s almost done but not completed,” he said. He wants to ensure the future of his company. “But if I was 20 years younger, I wouldn’t do it.”
