Cardin, Pierre

(born July 7, 1922, Venice, Italy) French fashion designer. At age 17 he went to Vichy to become a tailor at a men's shop. After World War II he joined the Parisian fashion house of Paquin and designed the costumes for Jean Cocteau's film Beauty and the Beast (1945). In 1959 he created the first ready-to-wear collection for women ever presented by a top designer and in 1960 introduced the first designer ready-to-wear collection for men. He showed himself a master of the bias cut, soft semifitted lines, and lavish colour. In the late 1960s his stark, short tunics, and his use of vinyl, helmets, and goggles launched the Space Age look. His men's clothing influenced other designers, including Bill Blass.

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