French couturiers travel to Ukraine in search of inspiration

The legendary, globe-trotting couturier Paco Rabanne has a soft spot for our country, which he has visited several times. He summed up the changes he has seen in the following metaphor: “Ukraine reminds me of a flower unfolding its petals before my very eyes.”

Observing and recreating beauty is Rabanne’s vocation. This designer says he has seen a lot of troubles in his long lifetime, including five wars. He has been issuing a challenge to all the horrors of the world by creating dazzling avant-garde apparel for haute couture catwalks.

He continues his work as an artist by quietly concentrating his thoughts on what he sees and feels and recording it in his books and drawings. Rabanne has brought to Kyiv a unique collection of 26 black-and- white graphics that encapsulate the designer’s concise, almost symbolic, code of his 40-year-long philosophical and mystical reflections.

This unexpected facet of his art is a pleasant surprise. It turns out that Rabanne has always been interested in the human face, a yardstick of true spirituality. You can take a peek at the great artist’s oeuvre at the exhibit organized by the international company Art Performance with support from the Kyiv City Administration’s Cultural Directorate. The exhibit is being held at 1/6 vul. Frolivska until June 8.