In celebration of the Cardin fashion house's 60th anniversary, this retrospective explores how Pierre Cardin immigrated from Venice to Paris in 1924, surviving postwar poverty in the 1940s and opening his own pioneering couture house in 1950. In addition to his futuristic architectural sensibility, Cardin also helped radically shift fashion's relationship to new audiences. Written by Jean-Pascal Hesse, an insider at the Cardin fashion house for almost to 15 years, this volume is a revealing tribute to an iconoclastic—and now iconic—designer, entrepreneur, and visionary.

Jean-Pascal Hesse, who holds a degree in history, has been Director of Communications at the Cardin fashion house for close to 15 years.