Article: Italian-French fashion designer (1922–2020)
France (after 1924)
San Biagio di Callalta, Italy
Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Commander of the Legion of Honour Commander of the National Order of Merit Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters
Pierre Cardin (, , ), born Pietro Costante Cardin , . (2 July 1922 – 29 December 2020), was an Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer. He is known for what were his avant-garde style and Space Age designs. He preferred geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the female form. He advanced into unisex fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical. He founded his fashion house in 1950 and introduced the "bubble dress" in 1954.
Cardin was designated a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 1991, and a United Nations FAO Goodwill Ambassador in 2009.
Career
Cardin was born near Treviso in northern Italy, the son of Maria Montagner and Alessandro Cardin. His parents were wealthy wine merchants, but lost their fortune in World War I. To escape the blackshirts they left Italy and settled in Saint-Étienne, France in 1924 along with his ten siblings. His father wanted him to study architecture, but from childhood he was interested in dressmaking.
Cardin moved to Paris in 1945. There, he studied architecture and worked with the fashion house of Paquin after World War II. He worked with Elsa Schiaparelli until he became head of Christian Dior's tailleure atelier in 1947, but was denied work at Balenciaga. While at Dior, he contributed the popular Bar suit for Dior's inaugural 1947 "Corolle" collection, already displaying the deft tailoring that he would be known for in later years.
Cardin founded his own fashion house in 1950. His career was launched when he designed about 30 of the costumes for a masquerade ball in Venice, hosted by Carlos de Beistegui in 1951. Cardin inaugurated his haute couture output in 1953 with his first collection of women's clothing and became a member of the Chambre Syndicale, a French association of haute couture designers. The following year he opened his first boutique Eve, and introduced the "bubble dress", which is a short-skirted, bubble-shaped dress made by bias-cutting over a stiffened base. He was the first couturier to turn to Japan as a high fashion market when he travelled there in 1957.
As haute couture began to decline, ready-to-wear ('prêt-à-porter') soared as well as Cardin's designs. He was the first to combine the "mini" and the "maxi" skirts of the 1970s by introducing a new hemline that had long pom-pom panels or fringes.
Beginning in the 1970s, Cardin set another new trend: "mod chic". This trend holds true for the form or for a combination of forms, which did not exist at the time. He was the first to combine extremely short and ankle-length pieces. He made dresses with slits and batwing sleeves with novel dimensions and mixed circular movement and gypsy skirts with structured tops. These creations allowed for the geometric shapes that captivated him to be contrasted, with both circular and straight lines. Cardin became an icon for starting this popular fashion movement of the early 1970s.
Inspired by space travel and exploration, Cardin visited NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1970, where he tried on the original spacesuit worn by the first human to set foot on the Moon, Neil Armstrong. Cardin designed spacesuits for NASA in 1970.
Cardin resigned from the Chambre Syndicale in 1966 and began showing his collections in his own venue. He also designed uniforms for Pakistan International Airlines, which were introduced from 1966 to 1971 and became an instant hit.
In 1971, Cardin redesigned the Barong Tagalog, a national costume of the Philippines, by opening the front, removing the cuffs that needed cufflinks, flaring the sleeves, and minimizing the embroidery. It was also tapered to the body, in contrast with the traditional loose-fitting design, and it also had a thicker collar with sharp and pointed cuffs. A straight-cut design was favored by President Ferdinand Marcos.
In 1975, Cardin opened his first furniture boutique on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. In 1977, 1979, and 1983, he was awarded the Cartier Golden Thimble by French haute couture for the most creative collection of the season. He was a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture et du Prêt-à-Porter from 1953 to 1993.
Cardin's first American-made, mass produced home furnishing collection came in 1977 when Cardin partnered with Dillingham Manufacturing Company, Scandinavian Folklore Carpets of Denmark for Ege Rya Inc., and the Laurel Lamp Company.
In 1979, Cardin was appointed a consultant to China's agency for trade in textiles, and in March of that year, he became the first Western designer to present a fashion show in China in many decades.
Like many other designers today, Cardin decided in 1994 to show his collection only to a small circle of selected clients and journalists. After a break of 15 years, he showed a new collection to a group of 150 journalists at his bubble home in Cannes.
A biography titled Pierre Cardin, his fabulous destiny was written by Sylvana Lorenz.
A documentary on Cardin's life and career, House of Cardin directed by P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes premiered to a standing ovation on 6 September 2019 at the 76th Venice International Film Festival in the Giornate degli Autori section, with Mr. Cardin in attendance.
Eponymous brand
Pierre Cardin used his name as a brand, initially a prestigious fashion brand, then in the 1960s extended successfully into perfumes and cosmetics. From about 1988 the brand was licensed extensively, and appeared on "wildly nonadjacent products such as baseball caps and cigarettes".
A 2005 article in the Harvard Business Review commented that the extension into perfumes and cosmetics was successful as the premium nature of the Pierre Cardin brand transferred well into these new, adjacent categories, but that the owners of the brand mistakenly attributed this to the brand's strength rather than to its fit with the new product categories. The extensive licensing eroded the brand's credibility, but brought in much revenue; in 1986 Women's Wear Daily (WWD) estimated Cardin's annual income at over US$10 million.
In 1995, quotes from WWD included "Pierre Cardin—he has sold his name for toilet paper. At what point do you lose your identity?" and "Cardin's cachet crashed when his name appeared on everything from key chains to pencil holders". However, the Cardin name was still very profitable, although the indiscriminate licensing approach was considered a failure.
In 2011, Cardin tried to sell his business, valuing it at €1 billion, although the Wall Street Journal considered it to be worth about a fifth of that amount. Ultimately he did not sell the brand.
Automobiles
Cardin entered industrial design by developing thirteen basic design "themes" that would be applied to various products, each consistently recognizable and carrying his name and logo. He expanded into new markets that "to most Paris fashion designers ... is rank heresy."
The business initiatives included a contract with American Motors Corporation (AMC). Following the success of the Aldo Gucci designed Hornet Sportabout station wagon interiors, the automaker incorporated Cardin's theme on the AMC Javelin starting in mid-1972. This was one of the first American cars to offer a special trim package created by a famous French fashion designer. It was daring and outlandish design "with some of the wildest fabrics and patterns ever seen in any American car".
The original sales estimate by AMC was for 2,500 haute couture "pony" and muscle cars. The special interior option was continued on the 1973 model year Javelins. During the two model years, a total of 4,152 AMC Javelins received this bold mirrored, multi-colored pleated stripe pattern in tones of Chinese red, plum, white, and silver that were set against a black background. The Cardin Javelins also came with the designer's emblems on the front fenders and had a limited selection of exterior colors (Trans Am Red, Snow White, Stardust Silver, Diamond Blue, and Wild Plum) to coordinate with the special interiors. However, 12 Cardin optioned cars were special ordered in Midnight Black paint.
Other interests
Cardin owned a palazzo in Venice named Ca' Bragadin. Although he claimed that this house was once owned by Giacomo Casanova, some scholars have argued that it was owned by another branch of the Bragadin family, and that its usage by Casanova was "somewhat unlikely".
Personal life
Cardin self-identified as being mostly gay, but in the 1960s he had a four-year relationship with actress Jeanne Moreau. His long-term business partner and life partner was fellow French fashion designer André Oliver, who died in 1993.
Death
Cardin died on 29 December 2020, at the American Hospital of Paris, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, at the age of 98. No cause of death was given.
Distinctions
France: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (February 1983)
France: Commander of the National Order of Merit (May 1985)
Italy: Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (23 September 1987; Commander: 2 June 1976)
Japan: Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star (May 1991)
France: Commander of the Legion of Honour (January 1997; Officer: April 1991; Knight: April 1983)
Belarus: Order of Francysk Skaryna (7 January 2004)
Monaco: Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit (2007)
Russia: Order of Friendship (24 June 2014)
Notes References Further reading 122–127
"Pierre Cardin", in Hallier L'Edernel retour
External links Official website Pierre Cardin Museum |
Source: 7 captures
18 Jan 2014 - 29 Mar 2024
Dec JAN Dec 18 2013 2014 2016 success fail About this capture COLLECTED BY Organization: Alexa Crawls Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet
has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the
Wayback Machine
after an embargo period.
Collection: Alexa Crawls Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet
has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the
Wayback Machine
after an embargo period.
TIMESTAMPS
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20140118233157/http://mid-centuryonline.com:80/blog/pierre-cardin-biography
My Account Login Sign in with All Furniture Seating Benches Dining Chairs Lounge Chairs Office Chairs Sofas Stools Tables Coffee Tables Console Tables Dining Tables Side Tables Desks Objects Art Glass Ceramics Glassware Objects Sculpture Case Pieces Bookcases Display Cabinets Drinks Cabinets Étagères Sideboards Lighting Floor Lamps Desk Lamps Table Lamps Periods 1950s Furniture 1960s Furniture 1970s Furniture 1980s Furniture Designers Aksel Kjersgaard Albert Larsson Allan Gould Arne Norell Arthur Percy Arthur Umanoff Austin Cox Bengt Orup Betty Joel Bo Borgstrom Børge Mogensen Carl-Harry Stålhane
Charles & Ray Eames
Erkki Vesanto
Erwine & Estelle Laverne
Folke Ohlsson George Mulhauser George Nelson Gunnar Nylund Hans Andersen Hans Von Klier Hans J. Wegner Harry Bertoia Ivan Weiss Jean Claude Mahey Jean Prouvé Leon Rosen Mario Sabot Matteo Thun Milo Baughman Niels O. Møller Paul Mayen Percival Lafer Per Lütken Peter Harrison
Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen
Kai Kristiansen Karl Erik Ekselius Pierre Cardin Poul Kjaerholm Preben Fabricius Richard McCarthy Roger Sprunger Ron Seff Sigurd Resell Vicke Lindstrand Warren Platner Willy Rizzo Winslow Anderson Curtis Jeré Elio Martinelli Magazine
Call Now +44 203 1297965
0 My Cart View Cart
You have no items in your shopping cart.
Home >> Mid-Century Online Magazine >> Pierre Cardin Pierre Cardin
Pierre Cardin: The evolution of design
Pierre Cardin
has been among the five best known Frenchmen in the world since 1960. Born Pietro Cardin to French parents on 7 July, 1922 at San Biagio di Callalta, Venice, he is best known for his avant-garde style and Space-Age designs, preferring geometric shapes and ignoring the constraints of form and surroundings.
“I like designing out-of-context, without the limitations of angles, corridors, rooms or walls. It’s all the same to me, whether I am doing sleeves for dresses or table legs.”
Cardin was educated in central France. Beginning his career early, Cardin, aged 14, worked as a clothier’s apprentice, learning the basics of fashion design and construction. In 1939, he left home to work for a tailor in Vichy, where he began making suits for women. During WWII, he worked in the Red Cross, launching humanitarian interests that continue to this day.
In 1945, Pierre Cardin moved to Paris. Here, he studied architecture before working at the design house of Madame Paquin. Following this period, Cardin moved on to work for the fashion house of Paquin and then Elsa Schiaparelli. Later, he met Jean Cocteau and Christian Berard and collaborated with them in the design of masks and costumes for films such as La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) in 1946.
February, 1946 saw Christian Dior open his doors and he was joined by Cardin for three years as tailleure atelier. Cardin went on to found his own company in 1950, located at 10 rue Richepanse, designing masks and costumers for theatre. His career truly began when he designed 30 costumes for a grand masquerade ball at Palazzo Labia in Venice on 3 September, 1951, hosted by the palazzo’s owner, Carlos de Beistegui.
He began with haute couture in 1953, calling the premises Maison de Couture, and here presented his first ladies collection. In 1954, Cardin’s Bubble Dress took the world by complete surprise and propelled his name into the fashion realm, as he opened his first boutique, Eve, in Paris, which was followed by Adam, specialising in menswear, in 1957.
For men, he proposed collarless buttoned jackets, favoured by The Beatles who asked Cardin to design their wardrobe. Cardin also designed the suits for the character of John Steed in the now cult TV series, The Avengers.
Cardin was the first couturier to look to Japan as a market for high fashion. Travelling there in 1957, he was made an honorary professor in Bunka Fukosa design college, where he lectured for a month. The impact of his time there was seen in 1962, when the college launched its Pierre Cardin prize, awarded to the best design student annually.
In 1959, Cardin was expelled from the Chambre Syndicale for launching a ready-to-wear collection for the Printemps department store as the first couturier in Paris, but was soon reinstated. The ready-to-wear collection was a great success with women. Commenting on it later, Cardin said that he “didn’t want fashion to go on being an exclusive privilege of the well off”.
During the 60s, Cardin began a practise that is now commonplace by creating the system of licenses that he was to apply to fashion. A clothing collection launched around this period surprised all by displaying the designer’s logo on the garments for the first time. “Initially, I wanted to create a brand name; now the brand name covers a wide range of articles. I believe my success is total.”
As the 60s celebrated youth, Cardin’s stance was that designs must be young and without the frontiers of race or nationality. “A great designer must have an ideal to create for, and mine is to create for the young,” he added.
Cardin began showing his collections in his own venue, the Espace Cardin (opened 1971) in Paris, formerly the Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, located near the US Embassy. The Espace Cardin was used to promote new artistic talents, such as theatre ensembles, sculptors, authors, actors, directors and musicians. It remains an important venue in the Paris art scene to this day.
Continuously fascinated by geometric shapes, in 1975, Cardin applied his fetish for the bubble to a monumental domestic work which would become Le Palais Bulles (the Bubble House), along with the help of architect Antti Lovag. Cardin furnished the Bubble House with his original creations. The curves of the Bubble House extend over 1200 square metres and contain ten bedrooms decorated by contemporary artists, as well as a panoramic living room.
At the beginning of the 70s, Cardin was enthralled by liquid materials like polyurethane that end up as solid shapes. These materials enabled him to create furniture reflecting his original ideas. In relation to furniture, Cardin has commented that his design impulse was “to not make furniture boring”.
October 18, 1977 saw the opening of the Evolution Gallery in Paris, where Cardin presented his first collection of haute couture furniture, Utilitarian Sculptures. The furniture did not relate to function, but concentrated on a style derived from elementary geometrical shapes. Cardin took the rotundas and pyramids found in architecture and presented them on a human scale. He fixated on allowing wardrobes, chests of drawers, shelves and cupboards to exist on their own, without needing to be placed against a wall. They became mobile, functional objects of sculptural integrity.
“My furniture is sculpture. I love working as a sculptor. It is my life, my passion, my happiness, my joy, my reason for working.”
Cardin brought his passion for design to the areas of automobile and aircraft design, also. The Sbarro car featured the same aesthetic traits as his clothing lines and furniture designs for the Japanese market. In 1978, he redesigned the Eldorado Cadillac, of which 300 were made. Its thirty coats of lacquer echoed the same principle of lacquering applied to his top of the range furniture. The West Wind executive jet was entirely designed by Cardin’s design studio for Atlantic Aviation in the same year. The result was a virtual flying-office.
In 1980, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, exhibited a 30 year retrospective of Cardin’s design work. During his career, Cardin has been awarded many coveted prizes: the Ascot Brun award (1985), given to him for creativity; the Fashion Oscar from the French fashion industry (1985); several Gold Thimbles of French Haute-Couture; the Knight des Artes et des Lettres decoration and the honour of being named the Commander of the Order of Merit by the President of the French Republic, among other recognitions from the industries he has been part of.
Cardin bought Maxim’s restaurants in 1981 and soon opened branches in New York, London, and Beijing (1983). A chain of Maxim’s Hotels are now included in his assets. A wide range of food products are now also licensed under the name.
In 2001, Cardin purchased the ruins of the castle in Lacoste, Vaucluse, southeastern France, that was once inhabited by the infamous Marquis de Sade; the site has been partially renovated site and now holds music festivals yearly.
Noting his humanitarian interests, Pierre Cardin was designated UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 1991. He designed jewellery and a Chernobyl medal, which were sold for the benefit of UNESCO. On 16 October, 2009, Pierre Cardin was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Cardin revealed an audacious plan to build a 133 metre high fluorescent obelisk near the site of the ancient Alexandria lighthouse in Egypt, which tumbled into the sea approximately 600 years ago. He unveiled a model of the obelisk, which will be covered in mirrored glass, with 16,500 automated lights within, which will cast beams up to 69km out to sea. The Egyptian government has approved the plan.
In 2002, marking his 80th birthday, Cardin held a massive gathering at his Bubble House; he revels in throwing parties and entertaining within his liveable piece of sculpture. At another party in May, 2003, in celebration of the release of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, he entertained Arnold Schwarzenegger along with 1500 other celebrities. MTV named it the ‘best party ever’. Cardin added: “All my life I have had big parties, and I am going to go on having them.”
Cardin
, now 90, continues to design and exhibit his unique and always fascinating take on fashion and furniture.
If you enjoyed this profile piece, please comment below.
References:
- Langle, E (2005). Pierre Cardin: Fifty Years of Fashion and Design. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.
- Loyaulté, B (2006). Pierre Cardin: Evolution, Furniture and Design. Paris: Flammarion.
Image references:
'Space-Age fashion by Pierre Cardin' http://www.revelinnewyork.com/blog/11/12/2009/pierre-cardins-space-age-fashion
'Le Palais Bulles, the Bubble House' http://www.coletterie.com/fashion-history/pierre-cardin-geometric-guru
'Pierre Cardin wooden pyramid unit, 1977' http://designbyproxy.blogspot.ie/2011/11/pierre-cardin.html
'Pierre Cardin table clock, 1970' http://mondo-blogo.blogspot.ie/2010/08/pierre-cardin-furniture.html
'Pierre Cardin and the West Wind executive jet, 1978' + 'Pierre Cardin on the cover of Time magazine, 1974' http://mondo-blogo.blogspot.ie/2010/08/pierre-cardin-man.html
'Pierre Cardin coffee table' COMING SOON to Mid-Century Online
*All other images exist within the Public Domain
Bookmark with: Digg.com Stumbleupon.com Del.icio.us Facebook Reddit.com Tags: pierre cardin lamps tables chairs design clocks biography Posted in Lamps Desks Coffee Tables Dining Tables Chairs By Karl O'Brien Post Comments Submit Comment Name * Email * Comment * * Required Fields Submit Comment Recent Articles
George Nelson: Melding Practicality and Beauty
Folke Ohlsson: Marrying Swedish and American Sensibilities
2014 is Here
Carl Harry Stålhane: The Swedish Potter
Mid-Century Modern Lighting: A Few Ideas You Can Use
Categories Lamps Desks Chess Sets Coffee Tables Dining Tables Chairs Sofas Events Clocks Ceramics Sculpture Art Glass Glassware Fine Art Biography Tags furniture modern century mid design mid-century biography chair lamps online art designer george scandinavian tips danish nelson ray swedish architecture My Cart
You have no items in your shopping cart.
Skype Live Chat [email protected] UK 0203 1297965 Company About Us Contact Us Shopping Info Shipping & Delivery Payment Guarantee/Returns Legal Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions
Stay up to date
A monthly email featuring outstanding designers and rare mid-century modern finds
Subscribe
© 2013 Mid-century Online - outstanding mid-century modern furniture
×
JavaScript seem to be disabled in your browser. You must have JavaScript enabled in your browser to utilize the functionality of this website. |