Paco Rabanne

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Paco Rabanne Has a New Creative Director

A month after the recently revivied Paco Rabanne label parted ways with creative director Manish Arora, the label has already named a successor. According to a press release, up-and-coming designer Lydia Maurer is the new Artistic Director of Women’s Ready-to-Wear at the house. While Maurer's name may not ring any bells outside the industry, the 29-year-old designer has definitely been around the block:

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Manish Arora Is Out at Paco Rabanne

Another fashion house creative director job is up for grabs, in case you know anyone who's interested. Manish Arora, Paco Rabanne's artistic director for the past two seasons, has left the label, WWD is reporting. This is sort of a surprising development, because while Arora's first space-aged, Mugler-inspired collection for the label in spring 2012 received mixed reviews, his fall 2012 collection was more favorably received and much more wearable. Lady Gaga famously wore his out-there spring designs shortly after Arora's first show (which is obviously a different scenario than if say, Kate Middleton wears your clothes) and J. Lo just sported a top from the spring collection on American Idol. This doesn't necessarily mean that the clothes are moving at retail, but celeb buzz for a label is nothing to sneeze at. So why is he leaving?

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Iggy Pop Is the New Face of Paco Rabanne's Fragrance (Yep, You Read That Correctly)

We have a little bit (OK, a lot) of celebrity fragrance fatigue, but this is an enitirely different thing. Iggy Pop, wearing gold sequined pants, is the face of Paco Rabanne's new fragrances, WWD is reporting. The scents, called Black XS L’Excès, will have versions for men and women and debut in France in January. A commercial was shot by Jonas Ackerlund, who's been busy lately with fashion-y type jobs (see Harper's Bazaar UK).

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Paco Rabanne Spring 2012: Manish Arora Debuts His First Collection for the Label with a Futuristic Bang

PARIS--"I think it was a good match when they chose me," Manish Arora said after his first show at the helm of Paco Rabanne, which has not shown ready to wear since 2006. A good match, indeed. Arora, whose own line is known for campy showmanship, a yen for the sci-fi, and the use of vivid colors, was well suited to take on the label started by Rabanne in 1966. Rabanne's first revolutionary collection in 1966 was called "12 unwearable dresses"--dresses made of unconventional materials like metal and plastic. Arora's debut collection for the line paid homage to that first Rabanne collection with paneled chain mail dresses that fit like gloves. "The workmanship is similar [between my own line and Paco Rabanne's]," Arora said. "We like to work hard, we like to make dresses that take 25 people and 20 days to make and that's the value of Paco Rabanne that I appreciate and that's the common factor." Light was paramount to the collection, Rabanne said, and futuristic mini dresses with exaggerated hips and strong shoulders were done in shiny high gloss materials that reflected the neon lights of the entrance space of the Centre Pompidou museum, the appropriate modern setting for show.

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Manish Arora Fall 2011: Getting Ready for Paco Rabanne

PARIS--Manish Arora was recently chosen as Paco Rabanne’s next head designer--and this made us look for hints of his new designs throughout namesake collection's catwalk. “When I designed this collection I didn’t know about Paco Rabanne," Manish told us minutes after the show, “but I think the timing is right. This collection is for a woman, not a girl. She is still having fun, but is more sophisticated.” Indeed, the designer known for his wild runways and colorful embroideries showed new signs of maturity. Sure, the catwalk kicked off with a magician who made a model appear in a box, but the silhouettes were body-conscious--like a teenage girl growing into adulthood and learning to dress for her figure.

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Fashion News Roundup: Manish Arora in at Paco Rabanne, Kate Spade London, and Cindy Crawford Goes Back to the Glossies

Manish Arora + Paco Rabanne: New Delhi-based designer Manish Arora is the new creative director of Paco Rabanne. {WWD, subscription required} Kate Spade Hops Across the Pond: Kate Spade, whose creative director Deborah Lloyd is British, will set up its first permanent UK store later on this year. {Liberty London Girl} LVMH Wants to Play Nice With Hermes Bernard Arnault says, again, that he wants to remain a "peaceful" investor in Hermes. Uhuh. {NY Times}