What surprises French fashion designer Pierre Cardin, known for his futuristic 1960s fashion, is when other people greet him and say, “I didn’t know you were still here.”
He says, “Yes, I am.”
Cardin turned 98 this summer. 98. And one way or another, he continues to work, sketch drawings every morning and concerned about the business of his brand.
“I don’t get bored with the paintings, I get bored on vacation,” Cardin said. “I paint day and night. I don’t know the definition of paint, because having fun, for me, is painting.
We are informed about the strings of this master in a new documentary that traces his life, his logo genius, his pictorial ethics and his senseless artistic production in House of Cardin, co-led through Fr. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes, which will be released in virtual theater on August 14 The film is a style for any entrepreneur.
It opens with the apparent question: “Who is Peter Cardin?” however, even some of his closest confidants do not know it. Through a series of interviews, the filmmakers seek to get all the data out of their cohorts, which ends up being a challenge. Why defy the emperor? There’s so much at stake.
This shows that few people know the guy with the multimillion-dollar label.
House of Cardin tries to show Cardin’s softer side, but also his ego. The author presents us with his successful empire, showing off his achievements (rewards, pioneering trends, meeting with Marlene Dietrich), and presents us with his eponymous logo in Paris, his own-made museum in the fourth district of the city (still unfortunately, his recent retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum is not mentioned).
There are interviews adoring celebrity enthusiasts like Dionne Warwick (who wore a Cardin and dressed on the cover of an album), Sharon Stone (fan of her fabrics), Naomi Campbell (who claims to be a teacher) and Alice Cooper (fan of her cologne line), to talk to her painters (who would not dare threaten her paintings by a juicy date) and former mentors , like Jean Paul Gaultier, who is probably the most frank interviewee on the lot (remember an anecdote in which Cardin rejected Restaurant Maxim’s of Paris because of the get dresseded code, which created a massive scandal).
Born in Italy, Cardin moved to Paris in the 1940s and founded his logo in 1950. Soon after, she worked with fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (who was Coco Chanel’s rival), and caused a sensation in the press when she brought her “space -Era dressing bubble” in 1954.
During the 1960s, she gained popularity for her futuristic geometric dresses with ambitious polka dots and oversized pom-poms. It was also a sensation in the 1970s with its modern and elegant look after the madness for the mod came to the UK.
At point-blank range: Cardin brought Parisian fashion to the area, at a time when it was elegant, elegant and predictable. Her dresses were more of a music video material, ideal for pop art photo shoots.
He got into trouble too. The Chamber of Trade Unions (then called the French arrangement of fashion designers) expelled him for creating a collection of a branch (he disapproved as a dressmaker, supposedly discreet). But its purpose is to democratize fashion for each and every woman.
For the uninitiated, this is what Cardin led the way: he was the first fashion designer to introduce a masculine style by walking on the catwalk, which in 1966. It also paved the way for the brand’s logo, being the first fashion designer to put his logo on the outside of a garment, like a fashion statement. Then, in a way, he invented the logo as a component of fashion, nothing to hide the inside of a neck, but to wear, which revolutionized the fashion style. Needless to say, streetwear wouldn’t exist without Cardin.
Cardin also brought the logo license at a time when this did not exist in fashion, he went crazy with it. It evolved in cosmetics, then furniture, family pieces and even random products such as keychains, cigarettes and toilet paper. This guy knows how to sell, but at what price? Critics said it was a serious case of overexposure. Its customer market is basically located in Asia.
It’s gone too far in terms of logos, but how far is it? Especially when you expect a logo symbol on all logo grades?
Some say Cardin also introduced the first line of elegant sunglasses and that he was one of the first designers to dress celebrities.
But in addition to his business acumen, he also knows how to manage culture. Cardin founded an event venue in Paris called Espace Pierre Cardin (pictured above), where everyone from Marlene Dietrich to Alice Cooper played. It had a high-end Studio 54 environment type and did not damage its logo to bring other people together. Talk about networks.
Today, he owns Maxim’s in Paris, the oldest Art Nouveau eater in Paris, and has expanded it to other parts of the world, with a diversity of products that promotes the brand of places to eat, from suitcases and perfumes to cooking utensils, such as a museum of the time.
One of the most thoughtful things Cardin says in the film is the future, from the point of view of a futurist. “In a hundred years, I probably wouldn’t be here anymore,” he said.
When asked what was the main quality of his personality, Cardin said it was not easy and that he liked to finish what he had started. “Anything is imaginable (anything is imaginable)” is in a way its motto. It is also his technique to undertake.
“I’m not the kind of person who settles for what’s already accepted,” Cardin says. “I am satisfied with my gift, but I have never finished. I feel like as long as I can do it, why not? It’s not dissatisfaction, it’s about going further, as a runner, or a cyclist, or a footballer.” , or an athlete In my work, I like to conquer, to achieve the goal, not own it at all.
Discover Pierre Cardin on Instagram.
Nadja Sayej is an arts and culture journalist in New York City. Originally from Toronto, she has lived in Paris and Berlin, writing for The Guardian, The Economist
Nadja Sayej is an arts and culture journalist founded in New York City. Originally from Toronto, she has lived in Paris and Berlin, writing for The Guardian, The Economist and The New York Times. He has probably interviewed more than two hundred celebrities, from David Lynch to Salma Hayek, Susan Sarandon and Patton Oswalt. Known for spraying each and every story with a sense of humor, she is from five e-books including The Celebrity Interview Book, released in 2017, and Biennale Bitch, a fun e-book about the art world, released in 2018. Nadja is also a celebrity photography photographer for V Magazine and Interview Magazine Germany, among others. Visit their online page at nadjasayej.com.