Cape Town - Tributes are pouring in for the Spanish-born French fashion designer Paco Rabanne, best known for his unique clothing designs and developing one of the world’s most well-known fragrance companies, who died at the age of 88 on Friday.
Paco Rabanne was confirmed dead by Puig, the parent company of his brands, who said he died at his home in France.
They said he “marked generations with his radical vision of fashion and his legacy will live on”.
“Paco Rabanne made transgression magnetic,” said José Manuel Albesa, president of Puig’s fashion and beauty division.
In the early 1960s, Rabanne began designing jewellery for houses like Givenchy and Dior and by 1965 he debuted his namesake brand.
The Victoria and Albert Museum, the world’s leading museum of art, design and performance, did not waste any time sending its tribute:
“We are saddened to hear of the death of designer Paco Rabanne. Originally trained as an architect, he radicalised elite fashion design in the 1960s through his playful use of materials. He will be missed.”
We are saddened to hear of the death of designer @PacoRabanne. Originally trained as an architect, he radicalised elite fashion design in the 1960s through his playful use of materials. He will be missed. pic.twitter.com/wdK59jeXZU
Meanwhile, Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani took to his social media account and remembered Rabanne, saying: “Fashion continues to lose radical creators, capable of inventing worlds and perspectives from scratch.
“Paco Rabanne was a true futurist, an experimentalist always projected towards the future, always looking to tomorrow. I recall the impact the costumes he created for Jane Fonda in Barbarella had on me, as did his unmistakable talent in creating with unusual materials and shapes. It is always sad when a visionary leaves us.”
Mr Armani remembers #PacoRabanne pic.twitter.com/TkUgDChs5c
A statement shared from Rabanne’s personal Instagram account read: “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.
“We are grateful to Monsieur Rabanne for establishing our avant-garde heritage and defining a future of limitless possibilities,”