The fashion world bids farewell to a true icon. Paco Rabanne has died, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped modern style alongside Vivienne Westwood and many others who redefined what clothing could be.
“Paco Rabanne’s memory will be honored by all who were touched by his visionary approach. He founded a brand that constantly pushed boundaries and opened up a future full of possibilities,” a representative statement read on the brand’s official channels.
Details about Rabanne’s death remain private, with reports noting he passed away at his residence in Port-sur-Seine, in the Finistère region of northwest France. He would have celebrated his 89th birthday in February, if fate had allowed.
Born Francisco Rabanedo Cuervo in Pasajes, Gipuzkoa, Rabanne’s early years took him from the Basque Country to France after his father’s death during the Spanish Civil War. In Paris, he began as a tailor before engaging with haute fashion through frequent visits to the Balenciaga house, where a fascination with materials and form would start to crystallize.
Rabanne’s education briefly traced architecture at the National College of Fine Arts in Paris, but his interests shifted toward jewelry and accessories. His talent, nurtured with help from his mother, caught the eye of Balenciaga and later the ateliers of Givenchy, Christian Dior, and other fashion houses, laying the groundwork for his own path.
In 1964 Rabanne earned a diploma but chose a different route from traditional architecture. By 1966 he established the Paco Rabanne label and unveiled his first Paris collection titled 12 Unwearable Dresses. The concept lived up to the name: garments crafted not from cloth but from plastic, metal, and paper, signaling a bold new material discourse in fashion.
As Chanel reportedly observed during Rabanne’s rise, the designer stood apart from conventional clothing design, sometimes described as a tinsmith with a fashion imagination. This fearless approach quickly found favor with actresses who embraced the new aesthetics. Rabanne dressed Audrey Hepburn for a notable moment in Two for the Road (1967) and contributed to the visual language of Barbarella (1968) with costumes crafted alongside Jacques Fonterey for Jane Fonda, amplifying his impact on screen style.
Rabanne’s experiments extended beyond materials. He was among the early designers who introduced multimedia elements to shows and opened doors for models of diverse backgrounds on the runway, contributing to a broader cultural conversation about beauty and representation in fashion.
In addition to designing, Rabanne explored perfumery. He launched Calandre in 1969 and, in 1973, introduced a masculine fragrance that married woody notes with floral nuances in a trailblazing blend. The fragrance line continued to evolve into the 1990s and 2000s, with scents like XS and One Million remaining popular worldwide among collectors and fans.
A contemporary fashion historian who knew Rabanne described him as an architect at heart, seeing his garments as forward-looking constructs. His work fused futuristic imagery with medieval-inspired metallic detailing, creating garments that challenged comfort for the sake of dramatic, future-forward silhouettes. This fusion left an enduring imprint on both fashion design and the broader visual culture of iconic cinema and editorial styling.