Francisco de Rabanne da Cuervo, known to everyone as Paco Rabanne, was born in Spain in 1934. During the Civil War, he and his mother left for France, where Paco graduated from the School of Fine Arts and received a diploma in architecture in 1964. His career as a designer began in 1965 when he presented his experimental collection of twelve dresses, among which was a dress made of plastic.
In the sixties of the twentieth century, Paco Rabanne was in demand as a costume designer for theater, cinema and ballet. One of his most famous creations of that time was a costume for
Jane Fonda in the science fiction film "Barbarella." Although Paco's style was considered strange and outlandish, his design work had a great influence on fashion and expanded its boundaries. In the seventies, Paco was the first to use black girls as models, which at that time was considered quite outrageous.
However, the activities of Paco Rabanne were not limited only to fashion design. In 1969, he released his first fragrance called Calandre. His spirits, like everything else, no matter what he did, reflected the individuality and shocking of his creator. So, Calandre combined the smell of roses and the taste of metal. In 1973, a new creation by Paco Rabanne appeared - perfumes for men Paco Rabanne pour Homme, combining the smell of wood and flowers. They were just a breakthrough in the world of perfumery. Then more and more new flavors began to appear. Now in total there are more than thirty-six species.
In 1989, Paco Rabanne was awarded the Golden Thimble Award at the first International Fashion Festival. He received it for creating designer clothes decorated with unusual materials such as cotton towels, corrugated paper, ostrich feathers, aluminum and others. A year after receiving the award, Paco opened his boutique in Paris. Together with architect Eric Raffi, they developed an interior that combines three themes: metal, light and glass. It was during this period that Paco moved away from the use of metal and plastic in his design work and began to resort to softer artificial fabric materials.
In addition to the listed talents,
Paco Raban discovered another one for people. He wrote books. In them he described his search for spiritual understanding. The most famous works were 1991 Trajectoire and 1997 Journey: From One Life to Another. In his writings, Paco revealed his deepest interests in mysticism, astrology, and God.
In 1999, the famous designer decided to retire. Before this came a new fragrance Paco Rabanne - Ultraviolet, which has become literally a classic of world perfumery. Being on a well-deserved rest, the couturier was carried away by another creative occupation - painting. Exhibitions of his paintings took place including in Russia. Over the past decade, Paco has been actively involved in public life and has been participating in AIDS support campaigns. He continues to design clothes and sometimes creates outfits for famous people. In 2010, Paco Rabanne received the National Legion of Honor, which is the largest award in France. Nevertheless, he still considers Spain his homeland. He was repeatedly offered to accept French citizenship, but he constantly refused, arguing that he did not want to upset his parents.