French fashion pioneer Pierre Cardin dies aged 98

French designer Pierre Cardin, who shook up the fashion world with his visionary creations but also turned his name into a money-spinning global brand, died on Dec. 29 aged 98.

Cardin won renown in postwar Europe with his futurist designs that looked like they had arrived from another planet, but he also used his business acumen to create the first truly global fashion empire.

Cardin, who was born into a low-income family in northern Italy but became a France-based fashion superstar, died in a hospital in Neuilly in the west of Paris, his family said in a statement.

"It is a day of great sadness for all our family. Pierre Cardin is no more," the statement said.

It said that after a lifetime spanning a century, Cardin had left France and the world a "great, unique artistic heritage", and not only in fashion.

Designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, the artistic director of Benetton, said Cardin was an "a very extraordinary man" who did not set borders between fashion, design or architecture.

"His inspiration boosted my imagination," he told AFP, adding that for Cardin the marketing and promotion of his art "was as important as the art itself."

Born in 1922 near Venice in northern Italy, Cardin was a small child when his family emigrated to France.

"Italian by birth, Pierre Cardin never forgot his origins while bringing unconditional love to France," his family said.
He grew up in the French industrial town of Saint Etienne and was apprenticed to a tailor in Vichy at the age of 17, already specializing in women's suits.

Moving to Paris, he designed the mesmerizing sets and costumes for the film "Beauty and the Beast" with poet, artist and director Jean Cocteau in 1947.

After a stint with...