Paco Rabanne: 10 Vintage Photos of the Late Fashion Designer’s Fascinating Life

Paco Rabanne was known for working in unusual materials to make dresses as well as bags. Among his many contributions, his disco-era sequined dresses and his iconic 1969 metallic bag stand out, as the designer worked in materials no longer as popular today. These festive, brilliant and unique fashions were made in the image of the designer. The great Spanish fashion designer and perfumer died on February 3, 2023 in Portsall, Brittany, France at the age of 88. Below, look back on moments from his life.

Paco Rabanne and a model wearing one of his creations in chain mail.

Paco Rabanne used metal in the form of washers to create his iconic dresses.

In 1981, the designer poses in front of one of his eponymous boutiques in Paris.

Paco Rabanne used to work with metal to create his collections. In 1968, he shows how he uses and transforms this material to make fashion pieces that have become iconic today.

In the 1960s, Paco Rabanne was at the height of his career. He created many pieces that have become iconic in the fashion landscape.

Fashion designer Paco Rabanne on the set of Casino Royale while working on the clothes for the film with Julie Harris, in Elstree, July 6, 1966.

A model wears a Paco Rabanne aluminum coat on a street in Paris, 1966. Rabanne used his interest in experimentation and his desire for social change to create clothing symbolic of the era. In two fashion shows, in 1964 and 1966, the designer presented experimental, wearable dresses made from contemporary materials.

The designer Paco Rabanne at home in Paris, November 1975.

Paco Rabanne works at his desk in his Paris apartment in 1974.

The Spanish fashion designer with model Isabel Feldel, wearing one of his elaborate metallic creations, July 28, 1967.

This article originally appeared on AD France.