His full name was Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo, but in the international world of fashion and perfumery he became known as Paco Raban. He would have turned 89 in a few days, but he passed away yesterday, as originally announced in the local newspaper in Brittany, where he has lived for the last few years.

A Spaniard originally from the Basque region, he was exposed to the world of haute couture from an early age, as his mother was the chief tailor at Balenciaga. With the outbreak of the Civil War, they moved to France, and the young Francisco studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts, graduating in 1964. The devastating 60s had already stirred up Europe, and he lived at the center of international fashion. He was eccentric, willing to experiment, and confident enough in his own abilities to consciously challenge the French haute couture establishment.

He made his debut on the French fashion scene in 1966 with a collection with the provocative title “12 unwearable dresses in modern materials”. The upheaval it caused made it the fearsome creation of French fashion in the 60s.

His … unreliable dresses were made of thin geometric metal plates, round plastic and sequins, interconnected by steel “rings”. Using pliers and wire cutters instead of needles and thread, the clothing took on the shape of medieval armor with futuristic references. “I challenge anyone to create a hat, coat or dress that has never been seen before. The only purpose of fashion now is to find new materials,” he said.

Yesterday in Brittany, the famous Spanish fashion designer Paco Raban died.

Of course, this provoked a reaction. Coco Chanel taunted him: “He is not a tailor. He’s a metalworker,” he said, but that didn’t stop him from designing a jewelry line for Dior, Givenchy and Balenciaga. But mainly it became popular among young people, and especially among yé-yé girls, young French singers and actresses who followed the musical trends of British mods and American rock and roll. Brigitte Bardot, Françoise Hardy, Jane Birkin were among his biggest fans.

In the following years, he continued to experiment with new materials (aluminum, rubber, paper), presenting collections influenced by Surrealism and Dadaism, being a close friend of Salvador Dalí. Even before he was 40, he was also in demand in films, designing costumes for Taylor and Audrey Hepburn, but his ideal muse was Jane Fonda in Roger Vadim’s Barbarella.

At the same time, he began his collaboration with the Spanish fashion and perfume house Puig, creating perfumes that made him famous all over the world. In 1999 he left home, and in 2005 he staged a big retrospective fashion show in Moscow.

He entered haute couture history as a futuristic couturier and fashion show innovator, as he was the first to use musical accompaniment to bring black models to the catwalk. She created the image of a woman of the future, inspired by feminism and beautifully embodied on the big screen. Fonda in Rabanne costume has become the sexiest science fiction heroine.