The legacy of Pierre Cardin: How the French designer helped usher in a fashion revolution

With a career spanning seven decades, Cardin's influence on the industry was unsurpassed

The Beatles - (clockwise from left) George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr - pose for an early group portrait wearing Pierre Cardin collarless jackets in 1963. Getty Images

Supermodel Twiggy wears asymmetric sunglasses by Pierre Cardin in the 1960s. Courtesy Pierre Cardin Museum

Pierre Cardin outside the fashion house he founded in 1953. Getty Images

Pierre Cardin presents the new uniforms of Union de Transports Aeriens flight attendants at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in May 1968. AFP

Pierre Cardin at the finale of his fashion show, in the desert of Whistling Sand Mountain on the outskirts of Dunhuang in China's northwest Gansu province, in October 2007. AFP

Twiggy wearing a Pierre Cardin dress in 1966. Courtesy Pierre Cardin Museum

Russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya with French couturier Pierre Cardin in Moscow, Russia, in January 1998. EPA

A 1960s hat design by Pierre Cardin. Courtesy Pierre Cardin Museum

Pierre Cardin with models at his fashion show that took place at his Palais Bulles villa in Theoule sur Mer, France, in 2009. EPA

A dress design from 1990 by Pierre Cardin. Courtesy Pierre Cardin Museum

A dress designed in 1968 by Pierre Cardin. Courtesy Pierre Cardin Museum

A 'Sunday Times' magazine cover from 1964, featuring a dress and hat by Pierre Cardin. Courtesy Sunday Times Archive

A vintage hat design by Pierre Cardin. Courtesy Pierre Cardin Museum

Twiggy wears a Pierre Cardin cocktail dress in 1966. Courtesy Pierre Cardin Museum

Pierre Cardin poses for a photograph during the inauguration of the Pierre Cardin Museum in Paris, France, in November 2014. EPA

Pierre Cardin surrounded by 'Catherinette' in front of his new Parisian shop, Maxim's, in November 1977. AFP

Pierre Cardin with Catherine Deneuve and Rosy Carita during a reception at the Ritz in Paris, in 1978. AFP

Pierre Cardin in his new fashion space in Saint-Ouen, France, in November 2006. AFP

Pierre Cardin at his autumn / winter show at the Guanyue Temple in Beijing, China, in March 2006. EPA

Pierre Cardin with students of Design and Technology Moscow State University in Moscow, Russia, in June 2011. EPA

A Pierre Cardin fashion show takes place on the ancient city walls of Beijing, China, in March 2007. AFP

Pierre Cardin poses in front of his designs from 1954, 1956 and 1957, at his fashion museum in Paris in November 2014. Reuters

The Pierre Cardin catwalk in the desert of Whistling Sand Mountain, on the outskirts of Dunhuang in China's northwest Gansu province, in October 2007. AFP

A golden haute couture dress by Pierre Cardin on display at the exhibition Pierre Cardin: Fashion Futurist at the Museum Kunstpalast in Duesseldorf, Germany, in September 2019. EPA

Haute couture by Pierre Cardin on display at the exhibition Pierre Cardin: Fashion Futurist at the Museum Kunstpalast in Duesseldorf, Germany, in September 2019. EPA

French actress Jeanne Moreau with Pierre Cardin in February 2008, at the Etoiles d'Or du Cinema awards in Paris. AFP

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver with Pierre Cardin during a' Terminator 3' party at the 56th Cannes Film Festival in 2003. AFP

Pierre Cardin flanked by models after his spring /summer show in Paris in January 1967. AFP

Pierre Cardin at his fashion show on board a former Soviet aircraft carrier at the Tianjin Binhai Aircraft Carrier Theme Park outside Tianjin in northeastern China, in May 2011. AFP

Pierre Cardin acknowledges applause after a show to mark 70 years of his creations, in Paris in November 2016. AP

Following the news of fabled French designer Pierre Cardin's death aged 98, it is hard to underestimate the impact of his staggering seven-decade career, as well as his influence on the fashion industry that exists today.

With a bold and daring vision, Cardin helped strip away much of the staid formality of the 1950s, paving the way for the fashion revolution of the 1960s. As early as 1958, Cardin was dressing models in then-shocking mini skirts, topped with crash helmets, helping to free women from the petticoats and corsetry that were then the norm. His experimentation with novel materials such as plastics and tinfoil was ground-breaking, disrupting all the supposed fashion rules.

Having begun his career during the golden age of haute couture, Cardin was one of the first designers to understand the importance of making cheaper versions of his clothes accessible to the general public, who could not afford couture. His constant experimentation with new materials helped bring down prices, and widen the appeal of his designs.

Even in his later years, Cardin was still experimenting. Tired of the standard runway diary, instead he followed his own schedule. Like fellow outlier Azzedine Alaia, Cardin presented his collection when and where he wanted.

Turning his back on Paris, instead Cardin opted to stage larger-than-life shows in countries such as Russia and China.

Ever the canny businessman, Cardin realised these were increasingly important markets for the fashion industry, so devoted his energy to courting them. With a keen eye for the theatrical, he staged a show atop the Great Wall in China in 2018, and in the Gobi Desert at Dunhuang in 2007. For the latter, Cardin didn't even bother inviting the western press. Always searching for the unexpected, he even took his shows to a former Russian aircraft carrier, now docked in China.

A visionary and innovator, Cardin helped up-end the entire fashion industry. In today's language he was, quite simply, the original disruptor.