Fashion designer Paco Rabanne dies aged 88 

Paco Rabanne, the Spanish-born designer best known for his metal ensembles and space-age designs of the 1960s, has died at the age of 88 in Portsall, Brittany.

The eccentric icon, whose real name is Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, captivated the fashion world in the 1960s with his futuristic looks, with his first collection made entirely of plastic.

The designer, who claimed to have had multiple lives and was previously a Parisian prostitute in the time of Louis XV, assassinated Tutankhamen and was 75,000 years old, retired in 1999 and has rarely been seen in public since.

His death was confirmed by a spokesman for the Spanish group Puig, which controls the Paco Rabanne label from which he left two decades ago.

Born in 1934, shortly before the Spanish Civil War, Rabanne’s father, a Republican colonel, was shot dead by Franco’s troops.

His mother worked as head seamstress at Cristóbal Balenciaga’s first fashion house in the Basque Country in Spain before moving the family to Paris.

In the French capital, the young Rabanne began sketching for Dior and Givenchy in his spare time from his architecture degree, and then worked at a concrete production company for 10 years.

But her passion for design could not be quenched and she began making jewelry for luxury brands before founding her own fashion house in 1966.

The fearless stylist was dubbed the ‘terrible boy’ of the fashion world when his debut runways showcased his innovative designs, using unconventional materials such as metals, paper and plastic.

His stardom reached new heights when in 1968 he designed the iconic green Barbarella costume worn by Jane Fonda in the film of the same name.

Rabanne acknowledges the applause at the end of his Spring/Summer 1999 haute couture show in Paris

His stardom reached new heights when in 1968 he designed the iconic green Barbarella costume worn by Jane Fonda in the film of the same name.

José Manuel Albesa, president of Puig’s fashion and beauty division, said: ‘Paco Rabanne made transgression magnetic. Who else could induce fashionable Parisian women to clamor for dresses made of plastic and metal?

‘Who but Paco Rabanne could imagine a fragrance called Calandre (the word means car grill, you know) and make it an icon of modern femininity?

‘That radical and rebellious spirit distinguished him: there is only one Rabanne. With his passing, we are reminded once again of his enormous influence on contemporary fashion, a spirit that lives on in the house that bears his name.”

Marc Puig, Chairman and CEO of Puig, added: ‘A major personality in fashion, his was a daring, revolutionary and provocative vision, delivered through a unique aesthetic.

“He will continue to be a major source of inspiration for the Puig fashion and fragrance teams, who continuously work together to express the radically modern codes of Mr. Paco Rabanne. I express my sincere condolences to his family and to those who have known him.