Rodrigi-Basilicati-Cardin CEO of the Pierre Cardin house in the brand’s headquarters in Paris, January 11, 2022 (AFP / JOEL SAGET)
At a time when certain luxury brands present collections at their own pace, the Cardin house wishes to join Paris Fashion Week, a year after the death of the couturier who had created, for a quarter of a century, in free spirit.
A first step in this direction, his nephew, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin, CEO of the label, will present on January 28, the day after haute couture week, a parade-tribute to Pierre Cardin who died in December 2020 at the age of 98.
“Pierre wanted to be free. As he approached his 80th birthday, he said that there were plenty of young designers who (needed) to integrate this Fashion Week” and that he did not want to take their place, remembers Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin to AFP.
Pierre Cardin fashion show on the Great Wall in Beijing, September 20, 2018 (AFP/Archives/FRED DUFOUR)
Fashion shows on the Great Wall in China in 2018, in Moscow in 2016, in Astana (Kazakhstan) in 2017, at the Palais Bulles in Provence, the creator’s favorite residence, presentation of models at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on the occasion of the screening of a film devoted to the couturier in 2020… there was no shortage of events during the stylist’s lifetime, who never stopped working.
Today, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin wants to get the message across: “we’re relaunching the brand” and taking advantage of the weight of the Federation.
Creations by Pierre Cardin presented at the Châtelet theater in Paris, September 21, 2020 (AFP/Archives/Lucas BARIOULET)
“We would like to enter fashion week, at least once a year. We need communication. My uncle did a lot and communication happened on its own”.
“He dedicated the last part of his life to creativity, not to distribution”, emphasizes Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin.
– Space theme –
The parade tribute to couturier Pierre Cardin will take place on January 28 at Le Bourget, near Paris (AFP / JOEL SAGET)
The 30-minute tribute parade, two to three times longer than the Fashion Week shows, will take off from Le Bourget, near Paris, to the Air and Space Museum, to present around thirty models. unpublished by Cardin as well as clothes signed by the Design Studio, in the same graphic, colorful and minimalist style.
Pierre Cardin and his nephew Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin at the Châtelet theater in Paris, September 21, 2020 (AFP/Archives/Lucas BARIOULET)
“We wanted to do it on the theme of space to evoke the 60s when Pierre Cardin wanted to dress the man who goes on spaceships”, underlines his nephew. “He was the first, along with André Courrèges, to dare to do that, criticized by everyone at the time”.
Appointed general manager by Pierre Cardin in 2018 and then president shortly before his death, Mr. Basilicati-Cardin, an engineer and graphic designer by training, had worked with his great-uncle since the end of the 1990s and participated in the creation of accessories in particular.
– One drawing out of 50 retained –
Currently, he also fulfills the functions of artistic director, he designs the glasses himself and selects the ideas to be developed.
Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin, CEO of the Pierre Cardin house in Paris, January 11, 2022 (AFP / JOEL SAGET)
“25 years ago my uncle knew me as a designer, I designed lamps, furniture. He really liked a certain simplicity, the love for the curve (…) He explained to me things that I was doing it instinctively.”
On the phone, he constantly looks at hundreds of drawings sent to him by the studio.
“In one out of 50 drawing, I find something new, I take it, we’ll work on the proportions” like in this “closed bell” skirt that evokes a street lamp”.
If he draws for the moment in the creativity of the house, he thinks however of “assembling a group of designers” come from outside to bring a new wind to the house which he intends to “rejuvenate”.
He also plans to organize an event on July 2 for the 100th anniversary of Pierre Cardin “which may take place in Venice”, the couturier’s birthplace.
© 2022 AFP
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