Fashion designer Paco Rabanne, known for his fragrances and creative use of unconventional materials in his designs, died on Friday. He was 88.
“Among the most seminal fashion figures of the 20th century, his legacy will remain a constant source of inspiration,” his namesake fashion house said in a statement posted to Instagram. “We are grateful to Monsieur Rabanne for establishing our avant-garde heritage and defining a future of limitless possibilities.”
His cause of death is unclear.
Born Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo in 1934 in Spain’s Basque region, Rabanne was raised by his mother, who was the lead tailor for Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. His father was a soldier in the Republican military and was executed during the Spanish Civil War.
Rabanne went to school for architecture, where he designed jewelry and buttons on the side. In a 2002 interview with the New York Times, he said he pursued fashion because of the creative “freedom” it allowed.
“I realized that with fashion I had freedom. Architecture is more limited and restricted,” he told the Times.
