RIP Pierre Cardin, "the stylist of the future"

The Italian-French couturier passed away at the age of 98.

A visionary, pillar of women’s haute couture and promoter of men’s pret-à-porter. Pierre Cardin was the first designer to free fashion from the “chains” of the bourgeoisie and to have canceled the boundaries of gender issues with unisex clothes.

Let’s retrace his career together, between words and images.

Originally from the province of Treviso, Pierre Cardin decided to move to Paris in 1945 driven by his love for sewing and theater, as well as by the desire to learn from the greatest Parisian couturiers of the time.

Cardin studied architecture, became a theatrical costume designer and, led by the great stylists of the 40s and 50s such as Elsa Schiaparelli and Jeanne Paquin, he reached the helm of the Dior house in 1957, after the sudden death of the designer Christian Dior.

The designer founded his eponymous maison after the Great War, precisely in 1950 and made his debut in the world of high fashion with his future “trademarks” such as the revolutionary “bulles” dresses, as well as with geometric dresses, shoulder pads and futuristic references to space. His, it’s a design that fully exploits sartorial skill and architectural design. In the 1960s, he created a kids collection and “Cylindre” the first men’s collection presented to 250 French students.

Exiled from the Chambre Syndacale de la Mode Française for a stylistic approach that was too ‘avant-garde’ at the Printemps, in 1970 he decided to found the new headquarters of his maison, or the “Espace Cardin”, acquiring the freedom to exhibit his creations . Pierre Cardin is a legendary figure in the history of fashion and costume and we remember him today for the courage and creative genius he had in knowing how to dare in his collections. A true stylist of the future, curious and innovator, as well as explorer of innovative international markets, such as China and Russia. None, before him, would have thought of using them for the creation of a real fashion business.

Cardin is also the first to develop new “trends” between the 60s and 70s, which deconstructed the certainties of the fashion of the time, such as pvc, plastic, paint, mini-dresses and “Optical” fabrics, in addition to the unforgettable “mask” glasses.

His creations have paraded around the world, we remember the event at the Great Wall of China and the Gobi desert. Pierre Cardin’s work was recently honored with the “Fashion Futurist” exhibition and the docu-film “House of Cardin”, as well as the countless museum exhibitions.

Credits: Pierre Cardin

Priscilla Cafaggi

Priscilla è una fashion editor laureata in storia della moda. Ama il vintage, il minimalismo… in poche parole una persona eclettica. Infatti, se dovesse scegliere due persone per andare a cena fuori sarebbero Jil Sander e Alessandro Michele.