Francisco de Rabanne da Cuervo was born in San Sebastian, Spain in 1934. He was called Paco for short. His mother was Chief Seamstress at the Spanish salon of Balenciaga. During the Spanish civil war, the family moved to France.
Rabanne started his career in fashion by creating jewellery for Givenchy, Dior and Balenciaga. He started his own fashion house in 1966. He used such unconventional materials as metal, paper and plastic for his outlandish and flamboyant designs.
Paco had his first supernatural experience when he was only 7 years old and it was to influence him for the rest of his life. In his personal life, Paco has been interested in mysticism, astrology, and other such subjects. He has given various magazine interviews talking about vibrations, out-of-body experiences and close encounters with God. He is also a vegetarian.
In 2005, Rabanne opened the first exhibition of his drawings in Moscow. His reasoning for showing the drawings then was, "I am 72 years old and I wanted to present my drawings this year before disappearing from this planet.
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