Pierre Cardin is a name that perhaps very few people in the world that have not heard. This certitude is testament to the breadth of the fashion designer’s collections and the tenacity of his work ethic. Although it is his avant-garde fashions that have given him cult status within the industry and its devotees, it was his revolutionary practice of licensing his name to various objects that transformed the brand and the man into a household name.
A new documentary by self-proclaimed “Cardinophiles,” husband duo David Ebersole and Todd Hughes entitled the “House of Cardin,” set to release on demand September 15th to coincide with this season’s New York Fashion week, follows the story of the man who escaped fascist Italy as a young boy and wound up as one of the world’s foremost fashion designers. Through clips of his past interviews, to conversations with notables like Naomi Campbell, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dionne Warwick, Philippe Starck, to name a few, and from his own current oration (he is a very young 98), “House of Cardin” showcases the designer’s talents as a curious savant, businessman, jovial entertainer and a tireless futurist.
Pierre Cardin was born in 1922 in Italy, and later became a naturalised French citizen, as his family fled facist Italy when he was two years old. From a young age, Mr Cardin knew he wanted to be a couturier, and in 1945, after the war, he moved to Paris and found work at the House of Paquin. He soon left and worked briefly with Elsa Schiaparelli until joining Christian Dior where he became head of the brand’s “tailleure atelier” in 1947.
Mr Cardin founded his own house in 1950 that begin with couture and was one of the first high-fashion houses to launch a ready-to-wear collection for the Printemps department store, a move that caused him to be expelled from the Chambre Syndicale, to which he was later reinstated.
“House of Cardin” documents the seemingly meteoric rise of the designer and catalogs his many innovations that have changed the fashion industry forever. He was the first major designer to license his name to a line of various products and display his name prominently on his fashion collections, something commonplace today, but back then, an unheard of practice.
I had the rare opportunity, as a budding fashion reporter, to attend a press conference with Mr Cardin in the early nineties when he visited Pakistan to tour its cotton manufacturing facilities. It was my first press conference ever and, I remember agonizing over which outfit I would wear to meet this legend. On the day of the conference, in a newly purchased black knit skirt suit with a silk YSL blouse, I sat there mesmerized as Mr Cardin spoke briefly of his career and the reason for his current visit. I listened intently while recounting in my mind all of the ground-breaking achievements this man had accrued: his astro-forward fashion, the iconic cologne bottle, the collarless, signature Beatles jackets, the use of minority models particularly his muse Hiroko Matsumoto, and his designed furniture that stills holds its innovation today. I knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime, so I nervously raised my hand and with a racing heart and quaking voice, which the designer and other reporters quickly noted as they all turned to look at me, I asked my question, “Would Mr Cardin be designing a new line of Pakistani-inspired clothing based on his visit?” After all, this was the man that designed the uniforms for Pakistan International Airlines from 1966-1971, a uniform documented by the many photographs of my mother as an early flight attendant. He also introduced Western fashion to communist China in the 1970’s, so I didn’t think my question was that novice (it was). With kind eyes and patience, the legendary designer empathetically answered my question which, to this day, I attribute as the initial confidence I needed to pursue my career as a journalist.
Although my tale is indeed tiny compared to the behemoths featured in “House of Cardin,” the documentary is a worthwhile and entertaining watch for anyone who loves design and the man who knows how to wield its influence.
HOUSE OF CARDIN
A Documentary by P. David Ebersole & Todd Hughes
“House of Cardin” made its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Queer Lion Award. It went on to winning the Lifetime Achievement, Best Fashion Feature Film, and Best Director of a Feature Fashion Film Awards at the Cinemoi Cinefashion Film Awards, and was also nominated for the Gold Q-Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival.
Directed by | P. David Ebersole & Todd Hughes
Featuring | Pierre Cardin, Naomi Campbell, Sharon Stone, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Dionne Warwick, Philippe Starck and many other notables in the fashion industry
Produced by | P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes, Cori Coppola
Runtime | 98 Minutes
