Piere Cardin was a famous Italian-born French fashion designer. He is mainly known for his designs that were unorthodox or radical concerning any culture or art. He was also one of the first designers who preferred geometrical shape design, mostly ignoring the female aspect and advancing into unisex fashions. His methods were not always practical but somewhat experimental. He later introduced the "bubble dress," which we now know as skirts, in 1954 after opening his own fashion house in 1950. UN... morePiere Cardin was a famous Italian-born French fashion designer. He is mainly known for his designs that were unorthodox or radical concerning any culture or art. He was also one of the first designers who preferred geometrical shape design, mostly ignoring the female aspect and advancing into unisex fashions. His methods were not always practical but somewhat experimental. He later introduced the "bubble dress," which we now know as skirts, in 1954 after opening his own fashion house in 1950. UNESCO and the United Nations FAO designated him as a goodwill ambassador in 1991 and 2009.
Cardin was born in northern Italy to two wealthy wine merchants, but the family lost their fortune in World War I. To escape fascism, they left Italy and shifted to France. His father wanted him to become an architect, but he was always interested in dressmaking and fashion designing. Cardin then moved to Paris in 1945 to study architecture. Many designers denied him before he finally got a chance at Christian Dior's atelier. His career officially started when he designed around 30 costumes for a function in Venice hosted by a millionaire art collector, Carlos de Beistegui, in 1951.
The following year Pierre Cardin opened his first-ever boutique named Eve. He was also one of the first designers to travel to Japan as a high fashion market. Cardin had always been a trendsetter, and in 1970, he introduced a new trend: "mod chic," which combined the mini and maxi skirts of that time. Cardin became an icon for this trend in the early 1970s. He also designed spacesuits for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in the same year after wearing the original spacesuit worn by Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the Moon. After this success, Pierre Cardin started showing his dresses and designs in his venue. Later on, he also designed the uniforms of Pakistan International Airlines, which became an instant hit.
Cardin also redesigned the Philippines' national costume, Barong Tagalog, by removing some of the stuff and minimizing the embroidery on it. In 1975, Pierre Cardin took his brand a little further into the furniture business and opened his furniture outlet on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. He won the award of the most creative collection of the season four times, and he also had a biography titled "Pierre Cardin, His Fabulous Destiny" written by Sylvana Lorenz.
Cardin also stepped into the automobile industry by designing themes for various products, and all of them had his logo and name printed on them. He also had an agreement with the American Motors Corporation (AMC) and later also adopted Cardin's theme on the AMC Javelin. The car's initial sales were around 2500, and the 1973 model of AMC Javelin also adopted the same design.
Pierre Cardin died on 29 December 2020 in Neuilly-sur-Seine at the American Hospital of Paris. The hospital management gave no cause of death.
