PACO RABANNE

Paco Rabanne was a Spanish born designer whose mother was chief seamstress at Balenciaga's first couture house. He studied architecture first in Paris & earned money sketching for Dior, Givenchy and Charles Jourdan. He went on to design jewellery for Givenchy & Dior & founded his own fashion house in 1966. He favoured unusual material such as metal, paper and plastic & created couture in outlandish and designs. His debut collection "Manifesto: 12 unwearable dresses in contemporary materials" is iconic. Jane Fonda's green costume in Barbarella was by Paco and Francois Hardy was a devoted fan.