Born in San Sebastien in the Basque part of Spain, Paco Rabanne spent his childhood under a hail of bombs in Spain. He was then exiled to France because is family was Republican, and after having a supernatural experience at the age of seven, was influenced to become an artiste.
Until 1966, the likes of Courreges, Cardin, Balenciaga, and Givenchy encouraged Rabanne and bought his sketches, while Gerard Pipart, who had just joined Nina Ricci, gave him some styles to embroider.
Utilising his family into his new business, Rabanne made fancy buttons made of plaited leather, precious stones, as well as of vermicelli or coffee beans stuck to Rhodoid, which were then painted.
In 1973, Paco Rabanne introduced his first fragrance, Paco Rabanne pour home, and this was followed by his first unisex fragrance Paco in 1996, made in a recyclable metal bottle. The range now has 35 fragrances including, for women, Calandre; Metal, Paco Rabanne Pour Elle;Ultra violet and Ultraviolet Aurora Borealis.
