Pierre Cardin Died. What You Need To Know About Him

Prior to founding the eponymous fashion house, a native of the Italian city of San Biagio di Callalta, Pierre Cardin worked as a costume designer in theater and cinema. His work can be seen, for example, in Jean Cocteau's film Beauty and the Beast (1946)

Pierre Cardin in 1945 © pierrecardin.com

• Pierre Cardin's mentor was the French couturier Christian Dior, in whose studio he ended up after working in the fashion houses of Jeanne Paquin and Elsa Schiaparelli. Cardin served as the chief tailor of Christian Dior, including the creation of the famous 1947 New look collection. “Pierre, sell dear - talent must be paid for,” Dior admonished the designer.
• At the age of 28, Cardin founded his own brand that produced sleeveless architectural and bubble skirt dresses, as well as patent thigh-high boots and whimsical helmet-shaped hats. In 1959, the designer exhibited his collection at the Printemps department store in Paris, thereby helping to democratize French fashion. For this, he was expelled from the High Fashion Syndicate, an organization that brings together the world's best couturiers.

Pierre Cardin evaluates his work on a model, 1954 © pierrecardin.com

• Throughout his design career, Pierre Cardin has filed patents for hundreds of inventions: for example, colored stockings, high boots, mini sarafans, ties with floral print and long jackets without lapels. The designer's name even appeared on keys and pencil holders, ultimately making him one of the richest men in the fashion industry. In 1986, WWD estimated the total sales of the Pierre Cardin brand at more than $ 1 billion.
• Pierre Cardin owned numerous real estate around the Elysee Palace in the VIII arrondissement of Paris, for which he was often called the real estate tycoon. He owns several business buildings and private houses.
• Cardin, who was often inspired by the clothing of astronauts, was the only one who managed to try on Neil Armstrong's spacesuit, in which he entered the moon for the first time in human history.

Pierre Cardin in a NASA spacesuit, 1971 © pierrecardin.com

One of Pierre Cardin's main muses was the Russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya. The designer made ten costumes for the "Anna Karenina" ballet, and together with the dancer organized the first large-scale art fashion project "Fashion and Dance" in Russia (1998). He combined classical ballet, elements of modern dance, cinema, an exhibition of costumes and a fashion show, in which Plisetskaya directly participated

In 2011, it became known about the desire of Pierre Cardin to sell the business. “I will not live forever, so a decision has to be made. I have no heirs,”he said in an interview with France-Presse. However, potential buyers were embarrassed by the value of Cardin's empire, which he estimated at $ 1 billion. Bank analysts assured that its price did not exceed € 200 million