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Fashion designer Paco Rabanne dies aged 88

Fashion designer Paco Rabanne dies aged 88

Spanish fashion designer Paco Rabanne has died at the age of 88, it has been announced.

Rabanne, whose real name was Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo, founded the renowned fashion house named after him in 1966.

Alongside French designers Pierre Cardin and Andre Courreges, he helped upset the status quo of Paris fashion of the time, earning him the moniker of “enfant terrible”.

A statement on his official Instagram account said: “The House of Paco Rabanne wishes to honour our visionary designer and founder who passed away today at the age of 88.

“Among the most seminal fashion figures of the 20th century, his legacy will remain a constant source of inspiration.

Paco Rabanne - In pictures

Paco Rabanne: (ES)
Paco Rabanne: (ES)
Paco Rabanne tries a creation with cutleries on French actress Corinne Marchand in 1969 (AFP via Getty Images)
Paco Rabanne tries a creation with cutleries on French actress Corinne Marchand in 1969 (AFP via Getty Images)
Paco Rabanne working in 1970  on a dress for his Spring-Summer collection in Paris (AFP via Getty Images)
Paco Rabanne working in 1970 on a dress for his Spring-Summer collection in Paris (AFP via Getty Images)
Paco Rabanne at work on one of his metallic dresses circa 1965 (Getty Images)
Paco Rabanne at work on one of his metallic dresses circa 1965 (Getty Images)
Rosemary Rodriguez with Paco Rabanne (REUTERS)
Rosemary Rodriguez with Paco Rabanne (REUTERS)
The triangular pieces of leather are nailed together in this coat designed by Paco Rabanne giving an appearance of chain-mail armour (Getty Images)
The triangular pieces of leather are nailed together in this coat designed by Paco Rabanne giving an appearance of chain-mail armour (Getty Images)
A French model wearing a knitted coat with leather patches designed by Paco Rabanne (Getty Images)
A French model wearing a knitted coat with leather patches designed by Paco Rabanne (Getty Images)
Fashion designer Pierre Cardin poses with Paco Rabanne (Getty Images)
Fashion designer Pierre Cardin poses with Paco Rabanne (Getty Images)
French sculptor Cesar, French actress Catherine Deneuve and Spanish designer Paco Rabanne attend an Aids gala event,  Paris in 1991 (AFP via Getty Images)
French sculptor Cesar, French actress Catherine Deneuve and Spanish designer Paco Rabanne attend an Aids gala event, Paris in 1991 (AFP via Getty Images)
Spanish-born fashion designer Paco Rabanne (L) raises both hands to wave good-bye at the end of his last futuristic collection at the Autumn-Winter high fashion shows (REUTERS)
Spanish-born fashion designer Paco Rabanne (L) raises both hands to wave good-bye at the end of his last futuristic collection at the Autumn-Winter high fashion shows (REUTERS)
Paco Rabanne appears with his models at the end of his Spring/Summer 2001 ready-to-wear show in Paris (Reuters)
Paco Rabanne appears with his models at the end of his Spring/Summer 2001 ready-to-wear show in Paris (Reuters)

“We are grateful to Monsieur Rabanne for establishing our avant-garde heritage and defining a future of limitless possibilities.”

Born in 1934 in the Basque Country, he escaped the Spanish Civil War by fleeing to France at the age of five alongside his mother, a head seamstress at Balenciaga.

He initially studied architecture at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris and began his fashion career in the early 1960s with a collection of large plastic accessories he sold to the couture houses.

Rabanne went on to fashion garments reflective of the mid-1960s cultural climate and created fashion with uncharted and imaginative production methods using novel postwar industrial materials.

For his debut couture collection in 1966, he presented “12 unwearable dresses in contemporary materials”, which included a chain mail-inspired minidress made of aluminium plates.

His designs have been worn by global stars throughout the years including Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Blackpink.

The fashion house also had commercial success with his range of perfumes, and his debut fragrance, Calandre, is still available today.

Lady Million, with its eye-catching gold-capped bottle, remains a best-seller and widely available.

After a three-decade long career, he stepped back from the design house in 1999.