Remembering Pierre Cardin, the French fashion designer of many paradoxes

Pierre Cardin was seen expanding his empire globally, moving into once closed markets and selling hundreds of licences to make himself the undisputed king of designer merchandising. Photo: AFP

Pierre Cardin, who died Tuesday (Dec 29) aged 98, was a man of many paradoxes – a designer who sought flamboyant yet simple styles, an aesthete with a head for business, and a futurist now associated with retro.

He rose to the pantheon of France's post-war fashion giants only to shake it all up by leading what was in the 1950s a revolutionary concept – designing "ready-to-wear" collections for the high street.