Initials P.C
Interview
PIONNIER : Assistant at Dior, he creates his own couture brand, then invents ready-to- wear in 1959, to the great displeasure of haute-couture designers. As early as 1946, while working for PAQUIN, he meets COCTEAU and creates the costume and mask for Jean MARAIS in "BEAUTY and the BEAST". A Venetian in Paris, he has, at a very young age, a strong taste for show and theatre.
INNOVATOR: The first to transform his name into a logo and brand licenses throughout the world. He travelled to CHINA 56 years ago to immerse himself in this gigantic market, and to JAPAN in 1957, where he was the first to represent France.
FREE ELECTRON from Haute Couture, rejected then celebrated. He indifferently dressed The BEATLES, Jackie KENNEDY or Lauren BACALL.
RECORD for longevity, eclecticism (in fashion and design), sales in the USA or in CHINA ( MAO costumes)
REFUGES - LANDMARKS: his houses, amongst others, PAST rehabilitations such as the restoration of the LACOSTE village in France, or the Marquis de SADE’s castle, or the FUTURE, with his BULLE PALACE on the french Cote d'Azur, built by the visionary architecte ANTTI LOVAG between 1975 and 1989.
SPACE like ESPACE CARDIN, formally The Theatre of the AMBASSADEURS, bought and restored in 1970, that will become a multicultural place where he will act as a patron of the arts for 450 shows (dance, music, theatre, exhibits), from MARLENE DIETRICH to Jean GENET'S plays. MAXIM'S, mecca of chic gastronomy, which he restored and revived.
COSMOS: his perpetual horizon since 1950 - CHARISMA: his numerous friendships. from COCTEAU to VISCONTI- CHINA, visionary on this market. CAREER avant-garde and impeccable - COLLABORATORS : multiple and talented.
ANTICIPATION: "the artist must be visionary", his taste for futurism, outer space style, cosmonauts and absolute geometry. At once an artist and industrial, he brings the BAUHAUS objectives into life, and, later, WHAROL'S ideal: Art at everybody's service. His key word: EVOLUTION rather than REVOLUTION.
REGRETS: to not have married Jeanne MOREAU, whom he dressed in a modernist style in Jacques DEMY’s film "Bay of Angels" and Francois TRUFFAUT's "The Bride Wore Black", between 1962 and 1968.
DAYS OF TOMORROW. DESIGN: from 1968 until 1983 he created 100 pieces of furniture with prestigious collaborators such as MARIA PERGAY, SERGE MANZON, YONEL LEBOVICI, who are references today.
INSTITUT: 21 years ago, he was the first and only dressmaker to enter the « dôme of the Immortals: and Academician from the future. (NFT The French Academy of sciences is the most prestigious scholar recognition in France) - INTERNATIONAL: so he was, and very young, a Venetian Italian taking over the world with his brand licenses, stamping his logo since 1957 onto perfumes, cars, planes, furniture, clothing and multiple common objects: beyond fashion. Between 1962 and 1967 he creates his international company.
NEBULA - Futuristic cosmogony, his leitmotiv is " No Nostalgy". His empire spreads across the entire planet. Last project: the construction of his LIGHT PALACE, that of an ultra-modernist.
Pierre Cardin, Jean-Pascal Hesse, Anne Vegnaduzzo, Maryse Gaspard, Dominique Racfzynski, Renée Taponier, Mélanie Bouexière.
Bubble Palace Pierre Cardin ©Jérôme Faggiano
Diamond ring, watch, airplane Pierre Cardin
Jeanne Moreau and Pierre Cardin
Light Palace Pierre Cardin Studio
Pierre Cardin interview
Guest Maryse Gaspard
Report / interview Sabine Morandini - Lisa Shelley
January 2011
Pierre Cardin "60 ans de création"
by Jean-Pascal Hesse - Editions Assouline
Boutique Pierre Cardin
27, Avenue de Marigny
75008 Paris