Pierre Cardin

Pierre Cardin is a fashion designer. He was born July 7, 1922 near Venice, Italy to French parents. He moved to Paris in 1945. There he studied architecture and worked with Paquin after the war. Work with Schiaparelli followed until he became head of Christian Dior's tailleure atelier in 1947, but was denied work at Balenciaga. He founded his own house in 1950 and began with haute couture in 1953. Cardin was known for his avant-garde style and his 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 introduced the bubble dress in 1954.

Cardin was a member of the Chambre Syndicale de las Haute Couture et du Pret-a-Porter and of the Maison du Haute Couture from 1953 to 1993. Cardin was the first couturier to turn to Japan as a high fashion market when he traveled there in 1959. That same year he 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. However, he resigned from the Chambre Syndicale in 1966 and now shows his collections in his own venue, the Espace Cardin (opened 1971) in Paris, formerly the Theatre de Ambassadeurs, near the American Embassy. The Espace Cardin is also used to promote new artistic talents, such as theater ensembles and musicians. Since 1994, Cardin shows his collection only to a small circle of selected clients and journalists.

Outside the fashion world:

• Cardin purchased 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 the assets. Cardin has also licensed a wide range of food products under that name.

• Cardin owns the ruins of the castle in Lacoste, Vaucluse that was formerly inhabited by the Marquis de Sade. He has partially renovated the site and regularly organizes theater festivals there.

• In 2003 Cardin invited the award-winning Chechen children's dance ensemble Lovzar to dance in his musical show “Tristan and Isoldeâ€�, which recently performed in Moscow.

• He is also mentioned in a Jonathan Richman song called "Everyday Clothes".

Information courtesy of:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Cardin