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Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo (18 February 1934 – 3 February 2023),

More commonly known under the pseudonym of Paco Rabanne, the Spanish-born designer who was renowned for his iconic metallic dresses, has passed away today at the age of 88 in Portsall, Brittany.

The designer revolutionised fashion by twisting unconventional materials into new and previously unexplored forms. His brand – synonymous with the optimism of the 60s – was built on sculptural microminis, crafted from bolshy paillettes of aluminium, which mined medieval armour for its space-age potential.

His origins are equally as fateful and as intriguing as his designs, born in the Basque town of Pasajes, Gipuzkoa. His father was a Republican Colonel and was executed by Francoist troops during the Spanish Civil War.

Though Paco’s avant-garde sensibilities were perhaps a matter of inheritance, his Mother was the chief seamstress at Cristóbal Balenciaga's first couture house in Donostia, Basque Country, and subsequently Balenciaga moved Rabanne's entire family when he opened Balenciaga in Paris in 1937.

In the mid-1950s Paris, while he was studying architecture at l'École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Rabanne earned money on the side by making fashion sketches for the likes of Dior and Givenchy, as well as shoe sketches for Charles Jourdan. Despite his early foray into the fashion industry, he stuck to his original plan getting a job at the company of esteemed French architect Auguste Perret. After 10 years at the company, he reinvented himself as a jewellery designer creating pieces for Givenchy, Dior, and Balenciaga. He then went on to found his own eponymous fashion house in 1966.

Dogged in his desire to break with convention, Paco was one of the first designers to cast models of colour and soundtrack his fashion shows to music. He debuted his first collection (Twelve Experimental Dresses) in 1964, followed by his breakout collection (Twelve Unwearable Dresses) in 1966 – both of which made full use of the postwar, industrial materials at his disposal, with pieces crafted from wire and glue.

He’d say that “sewing is a bondage” and sell DIY kits to his clients – among them Peggy Guggenheim, Brigitte Bardot, and Françoise Hardy – so they could fashion their own chainmail from discs, rings, and pliers. Those designs, worn by Jane Fonda in Barbarella, have proven a well of inspiration for Julien Dossena, who took over the Paco Rabanne label in 2013.

Though Paco treated fashion as a reaction against the polemics of his day – dressing women in armour needs no explanation – he was a futurist, untethered to the everyday. He retired from fashion in 1999 and while his fragrance imprint continued to be a commercial success, it wasn’t until 2011 that Paco Rabanne (the brand) staged a comeback. Since then, the house has cycled through creative directors Manish Arora, Lydia Maurer, and Dossena, who is compounding Paco’s experimental outlook and chain-link innovations – albeit with a less outré bent.

“Paco” was a daring, revolutionary and provocative vision, conveyed through a unique aesthetic. He will remain an important source of inspiration...

Rest in Power!

Jean Clemmer / Hélène Clemmer-Heidsieck, courtesy of Paco Rabanne,

“unwearable” show pieces from early Paco Rabanne collections, Photo: Courtesy of Paco Rabanne,

Paco Rabanne by Lucille Khornak

Jane Fonda in the 1968 cult-classic science-fiction film Barbarella,

Li Sellgren by Jean-Daniel Lorieux, fashion by Paco Rabanne, L'Officiel, 1970,

Asap Rocky wearing Paco Rabanne in GQ, May 20, 2021,

French singer Francoise Hardy wears Paco Rabanne in 1968,

Brigitte Bardot wearing Paco Rabanne dress, 1968,

Iconic 1969 Chain Shoulder Bag