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Pierre Cardin ((French: [pjɛʁ kaʁdɛ̃]), born Pietro

Pierre Cardin
Cardin; 2 July 1922[1]) is an Italian-born French fashion
designer.[2]

Cardin is known for his avant-garde style and his Space

Age designs. He prefers 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.

Pierre Cardin was designated UNESCO Goodwill

Ambassador in 1991.[3]

On 16 October 2009 Pierre Cardin was nominated

Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.[4]

Cardin, 2009
Born 2 July 1922
1 Career
San Biagio di Callalta, Italy
2 Brand
3 Automobiles Nationality French
4 Other interests Occupation Fashion designer
5 Biography
6 Honours
7 References The House of Cardin
8 External links Type Private
Industry Fashion
Founded 1950
Founder Pierre Cardin

Cardin was born in San Biagio di Callalta near Treviso. Headquarters Paris, France
Cardin’s parents were wealthy landowners, but to escape Key people Pierre Cardin
fascism they left Italy and settled in France in 1924. [5] Website pierrecardin.com
His father, a wealthy French wine merchant, wished him (http://www.pierrecardin.com)
to study architecture, but from childhood he was
interested in dressmaking. [6]

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 World War II, he worked in the Red Cross,
launching humanitarian interests that continue to this day.[7]

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.

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Cardin founded his own house in

1950. His career was launched when
he designed about 30 of the
costumes for "the party of the
century", a 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. Pierre Cardin ball pens

Cardin was the first couturier to turn

Pierre Cardin dress,
heat-moulded Dynel, 1968
to Japan as a high fashion market
when he travelled there in 1959.
In 1959, 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.

During the 1960s, Cardin began a practice that is now commonplace by

creating the system of licences 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.[7]

As haute couture began to decline, ready-to-wear soared as well as Pierre

Cardin’s designs. Cardin was the first to combine the “mini” and the “maxi”
skirt of the 1970s. He introduced a new hemline that had long pom-pom
panels or fringe that swayed as the body would move in motion. [8]

Beginning in the 1970s Pierre Cardin set another new trend: ‘mod chic’. This
trend holds true for form or for a combination of forms, which did not exist
at the time. Cardin was the first to combine extremely short and ankle length
pieces; making dresses with slits, batwing sleeves with dimensions, mixing Pierre Cardin - Cobra Table
circular movement and gypsy skirts with structured tops. These creations by and Chair
Cardin allowed for the geometric shapes that captivated him to be
contrasted, both circular and straight lines. Pierre Cardin was an icon for
starting this popular fashion movement of the early seventies. [9]

Cardin was fascinated with adventure so in 1970 he paid a visit to the N.A.S.A. (National Aeronautics and
Space Administration) Space Station. Enthralled with the idea of putting a man on the moon, Cardin is the
only man in history to have tried on the original space suit worn by the first ever human to set foot on the
moon, Neil Armstrong. Cardin loved the space suit so much, he created his own design for N.A.S.A. in 1970.
[10]

Cardin resigned from the Chambre Syndicale in 1966 and began showing his collections in his own venue,
the "Espace Cardin" (opened 1971) in Paris, formerly the "Théâtre des Ambassadeurs", near the Embassy of
the United States in Paris. The Espace Cardin is also used to promote new artistic talents, like theater
ensembles, musicians, and others. He was also contacted by Pakistan International Airlines to design
uniforms for the flag carrier. The uniforms were introduced in 1966 to 1971 and became an instant hit.[11]

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; it also had a thicker collar with sharp
and pointed cuffs. A straight-cut design was favored by President Ferdinand Marcos.[12]

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In 1975 Pierre Cardin opened his first furniture boutique on rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honore. His furniture
designs were highly inspired by his fashion designs. [13]

In both 1977 and 1979 he was awarded the Cartier Golden Thimble by French haute couture for most
creative collection of the season. [14]

Cardin was a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture et du Prêt-à-Porter from 1953 to 1993.

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.

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. 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". But the Cardin name was still very profitable, although the indiscriminate licensing approach was
considered a failure.[15][16]

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.[16]

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.[17] He
expanded into new markets that "to most Paris fashion designers, it
is rank heresy."[17]

The business initiatives included a contract with American Motors

Corporation (AMC).[17] Following the success of the Aldo Gucci
designed Hornet Sportabout station wagon interiors, the automaker Cardin interior in a 1972 AMC Javelin
incorporated Cardin's theme on the AMC Javelin starting in
mid-1972.[18] 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".[19]

The original sales estimate by AMC was for 2,500 haute couture "pony" and muscle cars.[20] The special
interior option was continued on the 1973 model year Javelins.[21] 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.[22] 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

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White, Stardust Silver, Diamond Blue, and Wild Plum) to coordinate with the special interiors.[23] However,
12 Cardin optioned cars were special ordered in Midnight Black paint.[22]

Continuously fascinated by geometric shapes, in 1975, Cardin

applied his fetish for the bubble to a monumental domestic work
which would become the 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 1,200 square metres and contain ten bedrooms
decorated by contemporary artists, as well as a panoramic living
room.[7]

Cardin bought Maxim's restaurants in 1981 and soon opened

Cardin signing his new executive jet
design (1978)
branches in New York, London, and Beijing (1983). A chain of
Maxim's Hotels (Palm Springs Ca. 1986) are now included in the
assets. He has also licensed a wide range of food products under that
name.

During the 1980s and until the mid-1990s, he supported a French Press organization for Music-hall, Circus,
Dance and Arts presided by a well known journalist in France, Jacqueline Cartier, with authors or notable
personalities as Guy des Cars, Francis Fehr, Yves Mourousi and Jean-Pierre Thiollet.

In 2001, Cardin purchased the ruins of the castle in Lacoste, Vaucluse that was once inhabited by the
Marquis de Sade; he has partially renovated the site and holds music or dance festivals (particularly with
Marie-Claude Pietragalla) there.[24]

Cardin also owns a palazzo in Venice named Ca' Bragadin. Although Cardin has claimed in several
interviews that this house was once owned by Giacomo Casanova, in reality it was the home of Giovanni
Bragadin di San Cassian, Bishop of Verona and Patriarch of Venice.

Sylvana Lorenz, Biographie de Pierre Cardin (Paris: éditions Calmann-Lévy, 2006) (in French)

Monaco : Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit (2007)[25]

1. "pierre cardin biography" (http://pierrecardin.com/wp-content/themes/pc/res/pdf/bio-pierre-cardin-

EN.pdf) (PDF). pierrecardin.com. Retrieved 1 Aug 2017.
2. http://pierrecardin.com.cn/wordpress/?page_id=29&lang=fr"UNESCO Celebrity Advocates: Pierre
Cardin" (http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8287&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&
URL_SECTION=201.html). United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Retrieved 2 July 2010.
3. "UNESCO Celebrity Advocates: Pierre Cardin" (http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8287&
URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html). United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization. Retrieved 2 July 2010.

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4. "Meet the Goodwill Ambassadors: Pierre Cardin" (http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/ambassadors

/ambassadors/ambassadors-pierrecardin/en/). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
5. Hesse, J. (2010). Pierre Cardin: 60 years of innovation. New York: Assouline.
6. http://0-academic.eb.com.library.scad.edu/levels/collegiate/article/Pierre-Cardin/20295
7. Mid-Century Online Magazine, Pierre Cardin, 6 July 2012 (http://mid-centuryonline.com/blog/pierre-
cardin-biography/)
8. Hesse, J. (2010). Pierre Cardin: 60 years of innovation. New York: Assouline.
9. Längle, E. (2005). Pierre Cardin: fifty years of fashion and design. London: Thames & Hudson.
10. Längle, E. (2005). Pierre Cardin: fifty years of fashion and design. London: Thames & Hudson.
11. Kureishi, Omar (4 May 2003). "Pierre Cardin comes to PIA" (http://archives.dawn.com/weekly
/dmag/archive/030504/dmag7.htm). Dawn Magazine. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
12. Edwards, Louise; Roces, Mina, eds. (2010). The Politics of Dress in Asia and the Americas
(https://books.google.com/books?id=IBdpE-aUchkC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&
dq=pierre+cardin+ferdinand+marcos). Sussex Academic Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-84519-399-7.
Retrieved 2 July 2011.
13. Hesse, J. (2010). Pierre Cardin: 60 years of innovation. New York: Assouline.
14. Längle, E. (2005). Pierre Cardin: fifty years of fashion and design. London: Thames & Hudson.
15. Mergen Reddy and Nic Terblanche (December 2005). "How Not to Extend Your Luxury Brand"
(https://hbr.org/2005/12/how-not-to-extend-your-luxury-brand). Harvard Business Review. Retrieved
6 May 2017.
16. Jason Dike (23 November 2015). "Digging Deeper - Pierre Cardin's Demise to "Licensing King" "
(http://www.highsnobiety.com/2015/11/23/digging-deeper-pierre-cardin/). Highsnobiety.com.
Retrieved 6 May 2017.
17. "Pierre Cardin Goes Industrial" (https://books.google.com/books?id=_6EiAQAAMAAJ&
q=Pierre+Cardin+Javelin&dq=Pierre+Cardin+Javelin). Business Week: 44. 1972. Retrieved 7 August
2012.
18. "Introducing the Cardin Javelin" (https://books.google.com/books?id=u-YCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45&
lpg=PA45&dq=Pierre+Cardin+Javelin). New York Magazine: 45. 20 March 1972. Retrieved 7 August
2012.
19. Mitchell, Larry G. (2000). AMC Muscle Cars. MotorBooks/MBI Publishing. pp. 55–56.
ISBN 978-0-7603-0761-8.
20. Mays, James C. (2006). The Savvy Guide to Buying Collector Cars at Auction. Indy-Tech Publishing.
p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7906-1322-2.
21. Lamm, Michael (October 1972). "AMC: Hornet hatchback leads the lineup" (https://books.google.com
/books?id=VNQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=Pierre+Cardin+Javelin). Popular
Mechanics. 138 (4): 119. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
22. Cranswick, Marc (2012). The Cars of American Motors: An Illustrated History
(https://books.google.com/books?id=r9j7MWLE_jMC&pg=PA125&lpg=PA125&
dq=Pierre+Cardin+Javelin+4152). McFarland. p. 112; 125; 247. ISBN 978-0-7864-4672-8. Retrieved
7 August 2012.
23. Foster, Patrick (April 2007). "Pierre Cardin Meets the Javelin". Hemming's Classic Car (31).
24. Lichfield, John (19 August 2009). "Does Lacoste want the grand designs of Pierre Cardin? Non merci"
(http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/does-lacoste-want-the-grand-designs-of-pierre-
cardin-inon-mercii-1774053.html). The Independent. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
25. Sov. Ord. n° 1396 of 18 Nov. 2007 (http://www.legimonaco.mc/Dataweb/jourmon.nsf
/100ab120e52ceb84c12568ce002f2909/047dff856b8a8e25c125739c004969cc!OpenDocument) :
promotions or nominations : recipients (http://www.legimonaco.mc/Dataweb/jourmon.nsf
/100ab120e52ceb84c12568ce002f2909/047dff856b8a8e25c125739c004969cc/$FILE/JO7835%20m
%C3%A9dailles9.pdf)

Hesse, Jean-Pascal (2010). Pierre Cardin: 60 Years of Innovation. Assouline.

ISBN 978-2-7594-0424-7.

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Pierre Cardin official website (http://www.pierrecardin.com/)

Pierre Cardin rare interview (http://www.fascineshion.com/en/fashion-close-up/pierre-cardin/314/)
Pierre Cardin Museum (http://www.fascineshion.com/en/exhibition/pierre-cardin-museum/318/)

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