Paco Rabanne

Paco Rabanne, originally Francisco Rabanedacuervo, was born on 18 February 1934 in San Sebastian, Spain. His mother was Chief Seamstress at the Spanish salon of Balenciaga. Rabanne started his career in fashion by creating jewellery for Givenchy, Dior and Balenciaga. In 1965 he started his career as a designer by presenting a collection of 12 contemporary dresses which he called “the Unwearables”. These included his first plastic dress. In 1966 Paco Rabanne opened his own outlet at the age of 32, where he earned international repute for his metal-linked plastic-disc dresses, sun goggles and jewellery made of plastic in primary colours. Paco Rabanne’s dresses made of small plastic tiles linked together by chains, stole the show in Paris. In 1989 Paco Rabanne was awarded the Golden Thimble at the lst International Festival of Fashion.