Steph Deschamps / January 16, 2022
At a time when some luxury brands present their collections at their own pace, the house of Cardin wishes to integrate the Paris Fashion Week, a year after the death of the designer who had created, for a quarter of a century, in free electron.
First step in this direction, his nephew, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin, CEO of the label, will present on January 28, the day after the haute couture week, a tribute show to Pierre Cardin who died in December 2020 at 98 years.
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, recalls Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin to AFP.
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, favorite residence of the designer, presentation of models at the Châtelet theater in Paris on the occasion of the screening of a film dedicated to the designer in 2020 the events were not lacking in the lifetime of the designer who never stopped working.
Today, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin wants to pass the message: we relaunch the brand and take advantage of the weight of the Federation.
We would like to enter the fashion week, at least once a year. We need communication. My uncle did a lot and the communication was coming by itself.
He dedicated the last part of his life to creativity, not to distribution, emphasizes Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin.
The 30-minute tribute show, two to three times longer than the Fashion Week shows, will fly to Le Bourget, near Paris, at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace, to present some 30 never-before-seen models by Cardin as well as garments signed by the Design Studio, in the same graphic, colorful and minimalist style.
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, said his nephew. He was the first, with André Courrèges to dare to do that, criticized by everyone at the time.
Appointed by Pierre Cardin as CEO 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 late 1990s and was involved in the creation of accessories in particular.
Currently, he also serves as art director, designing the glasses himself and selecting the ideas to be developed.
He also plans to organize an event on July 2 for Pierre Cardin's 100th birthday which may take place in Venice, the designer's hometown.