Pierre Cardin

After working for Dior, Schiaparelli and Paquin, Pierre Cardin opened his fashion house in 1947. Initially designing costumes for stage productions, he launched his first womens couture collection in 1953 and womens readytowear in 1959. Cardins company grew into an empire starting in the 1960s when he began licensing his name to a wide array of products outside of clothing.