French fashion designer Pierre Cardin, known for his Space-Age sketches and innovative inventions, died at the age of 98, said the French Fine Arts Academy in a Twitter post. His family said he died on Tuesday.
The revolutionary artist, regarded as a ready-to-wear pioneer, was the son of Italian immigrants. He died in the morning, according to AFP, at the American Hospital in Paris, Neuilly, west of Paris.
He was known for his avant-garde style and for choosing abstract forms and patterns. He went on to unisex fashions, which were often experimental and impossible to wear. By launching ready-to-wear lines, Cardin has made high fashion available to the middle classes.
He founded his fashion house in 1950 and, in 1954, launched the iconic bubble dress – tight at the waist, flashing at the thigh and narrow at the hem – which was a worldwide triumph. He was credited with supporting the movement.
Cardin was born to French wine merchants, near Treviso, Italy, on July 2, 1922. He was the last of the eleven brothers. While his parents wanted him to be an architect, his interests were always in fashion and architecture.
