Cardin, Pierre, 1922- (1922-)

Dates

• Existence: 1922-

Biography

French couturier, ready-to-wear designer and entrepreneur. Cardin is known for space-age style fashions in the 1960s, pioneering the ready-to-wear market and extensive licensing of his name .

Cardin was born in Italy, but his family moved to France when he was two years old. He worked as a menswear tailor in Vichy, then as an accountant for the Red Cross during World War II. He later moved to Paris, where he was employed as an assistant at the couture houses of Jeanne Paquin, Elsa Schiaparelli and Christian Dior. Cardin helped execute Dior’s design of the famous ‘Bar’ suit for his inaugural ‘New Look’ collection in 1947. In 1950 he started his own business and designed costumes for theater productions, including Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast. In 1953, he began designing small couture collections for women. At the time his fashions were similar to those of other Paris couturiers, but with innovative details.

In keeping with his background as a tailor, Cardin’s early work consisted mainly of day suits and coats, as well as semi-fitted chemise dresses. Unlike most couturiers of the 1950s, however, he favored clothes that were soft, with pleating and draping to give them motion. Draped cowl necklines became a feature of Cardin designs. He developed the ‘bubble dress’ in 1954 and the ‘mushroom collar’ in 1958. His first full women’s collection was in 1957.

In 1958 Cardin’s work became even more innovative. He designed a unisex collection that included skin-tight body suits. In 1959, he was expelled from the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture for another bold step—launching a ready-to-wear line. The line was shown in a department store where anyone could buy the clothes. In 1960, Cardin began designing for men, an unprecedented step for an established women’s couturier. His menswear styles were youthful, with a trim ‘cylinder’ silhouette. In the early 1960s, Cardin’s collarless suits became the trademark look of the Beatles. By this point, Cardin had established himself as an avant-garde designer and fashion industry pioneer. His ready-to-wear lines brought high fashion to the masses, but his couture work was where his experimental ideas took shape.

The latter half of the 1960s saw the advent of the true Cardin style. From 1964 his designs were futuristic with strong, sculpted shapes and vivid colours. These were clothes for the space age. There were tunics worn with brightly colored tights, dresses that featured geometric cut-outs and appliqués of synthetic materials such as vinyl, and hats that looked like flying saucers. In 1967 Cardin introduced his ‘Cosmocorps’ collection (see fig.). He was convinced that human beings would soon inhabit the moon, and he was making the clothes that he believed women would want to wear there.

Cardin embraced the use of synthetic materials and even participated in the development of new ones (see fig.). One example was a heavy fabric called ‘Cardine’, capable of holding a sculptural shape independent of the wearer’s body. In the 1970s he designed colourful separates that were easy to combine, enlivened with this his signature cut-outs and appliqués or with details such as fringe, slits and pompoms. There were also soft, draped dresses in supple fabrics (see fig.). Cardin’s interest in architecture and travel was evident in the jackets with Pagoda shoulders he designed for both men and women in 1979. Their exaggerated shape prepared the eye for the padded shoulders of the 1980s. Cardin’s designs of the 1980s continued to be architectural and sculptural, with pronounced shoulders, asymmetric elements, blouson shapes, stiff oversized ruffles and peplums, and trapunto stitching. He also put hoops into tubular dresses, creating three-dimensional forms. For men, he designed boxy jackets with deep side slits.

By the 1980s, Pierre Cardin had become famous not only for his fashion designs, but for his business ventures. Cardin understood the possibilities of marketing a ‘designer label’. He started putting his initials on clothing in 1967, which was uncommon at the time. However, by the 1980s, his assertive approach to fashion marketing had become commonplace. Cardin traveled all over the world, expanding his brand; he considered himself a businessman, ensuring his financial independence in order to guarantee his artistic freedom.

Over the years, Cardin has licensed thousands of products under his name, including bicycles, electric razors, fruit juices, frying pans, alarm clocks and sofas. As of 2008, he had overseen approximately 900 licenses. He also designed furniture, operated theaters, including L’Espace Cardin (Paris), owned Maxim’s restaurant (Paris) and brand and bought and restored the 15th-century château at Lacoste in Provence that was once the home of the Marquis de Sade. In 1996, Cardin held his farewell haute couture show but continued to visit his atelier and to design every day.

Exhibitions of Pierre Cardin’s work include: Pierre Cardin: Paris. Past, Present, Future (1990) at the Victoria & Albert Museum and Pierre Cardin: Design & Fashion 1950–2005 (2005) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

Found in 7 Collections and/or Records: