Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo

Paco Rabanne (1934–2023) revolutionized haute couture by abandoning traditional needle and thread to assemble garments using pliers, blowtorches, and rivets. Escaping the Spanish Civil War with his mother—the head seamstress at Balenciaga—he trained in architecture at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

In 1966, he rocked the fashion establishment with his manifesto collection: \"12 Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials\", constructing chainmail mini-dresses out of rhodoid plastic discs and metal plates linked with brass wire. He designed Jane Fonda's iconic green sci-fi costumes for Barbarella (1968) and dressed Audrey Hepburn and Françoise Hardy in shimmering metal.

Rabanne also built a world-conquering fragrance empire in partnership with Puig, releasing legendary perfumes such as Calandre, XS, and 1 Million, remaining a fearless iconoclast of modern design.