Pierre Cardin

Pierre Cardin

Italian French designer, Pierre Cardin was born on July 2, 1922  in Treviso. He studied in central France and began his career at the age of fourteen when he did an apprenticeship at a clothier  in order to learn about making apparel. He left his home in 1939 to work in Vichy under a tailor. From here, Cardin polished his fashion designing skills and eventually became one of the most recognized designers of the 20th century. During the second world war, Cardin became interested in humanity at the time he worked in Red Cross.

In 1945, he moved to Paris to learn about architecture and did a job in a fashion house. He became the head of tailoring at Christian Dior after working with Elsa Schiaparelli. In 1950, he founded his own fashion house and launched his career after completing an order for a masquerade ball in Venice at Palazzo Labia in 1951. Eight years later, he traveled to Japan and found the market of high fashion attractive. In the 1960s, Cardin surprised everybody by launching a collection of clothes with his logo attached to the garments, since this practice was not common then.  Between 1953 and 1993, he was one of the members of Chambre Syndicale of Prêt-à-Porter and Haute Couture. In 1994, he limited the showcase of his collections to a small group of journalists and clients but after fifteen years Cardin displayed his new collection in Cannes to more than 100 journalists.

Apart from this, he practiced industrial design as well by developing 13 themes that can be applied to an assortment of products, each recognizable and carrying his logo. Pierre Cardin and American Motors Corporation signed a contract to design and manufactured Cardin Javelins.

Moving on, since Cardin was spellbound by geometric shapes, in 1975 he applied this obsession to building the Bubble House. It is spread on more than 1,200 square meters with a panoramic lounge and ten contemporary bedrooms. For this project, Cardin took help from Antti Lovag, an architect who measured the practicalities of Cardin’s design. With such an avant-garde approach, in 1954 he introduced the bubble dress. His unisex apparel designs were not practical, mostly they were just experimental.

Later in 1981, Pierre Cardin purchased Maxim restaurants and hotels. He spread this business in London, New York and Beijing within three years. He also licensed various food products by that name.

Then from the 1980s till the 1990s, Cardin supported a press association in France for arts, dance and circus managed by Jacqueline Cartier with personalities and authors like Jean Pierre Thiollet, Yves Mourousi, Guy des Cars and Francis Fehr.

In 1991, Cardin became the Goodwill Ambassador of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). His creations have been worn by several celebrities, like Nora Arzeneder and Shirley Maclaine.

In 2001 with much riches in his hand, he bought a castle’s ruins in France’s town Lacoste that once sheltered the Marquis de Sade. PierreCardin has somewhat renovated the location for dance and music carnivals. The designer has spent expansively in acquiring property and land in this area, in order to turn it into a resort. Some villagers condemn his existence and find it detrimental to the reputation and atmosphere of the area. Despite this, the designer is not lagging behind in fulfilling his visions since he is a wealthy and influential person after all.