Important dates in the life of Pierre Cardin

Here are key dates in the life and career of French designer and businessman Pierre Cardin who died on Tuesday aged 98:

- July 2, 1922: He is born in San Biaggio di Callalta, near Venice in northern Italy. His family emigrates to France when he is two.
- 1936: As a teenager he is apprenticed to tailors in the French towns of Saint-Etienne and Vichy. During World War II he works for the Red Cross in Vichy.
- 1945: In Paris he finds work at the Paquin fashion house, hired as a tailor at Christian Dior the following year.
- 1950: Sets up his own fashion house.
- 1954: Creates the now-legendary bubble dress and launches his "Eve" boutique for women, with "Adam" for men opening in 1957.
- 1959: Presents his first ready-to-wear collection.
- 1960s: Starts licensing his designs, the Cardin brand subsequently putting its stamp on hundreds of products from shirts to bottled water and real estate.
- 1964: Launches the "Space Age" collection, a landmark in fashion history.
- 1979: Stages the first show by a Western fashion house in Beijing.
- 1981: Buys upscale Paris restaurant Maxim's, which he turns into an international chain.
- 1991: Becomes the first designer to hold a fashion show in Moscow's Red Square, drawing a crowd of 200,000.
- 2011: Puts his empire up for sale for a billion euros. It fails to sell. - 2016: Marks the 70th anniversary of his career with a fashion show in Paris.
- July 2019: New York's Brooklyn Museum puts on a major retrospective of his career.
- December 29, 2020: Dies at the age of 98.(AFP)