Manish Arora toast of French chic

Designer Manish Arora how has been making news for being selected as the artistic director

of Franco-Spanish fashion house, Paco Rabanne, says he won’t be showing in India anymore. Known for his sexy, glamorous, punk styles his designs are rage among fashionistas. The Franco-Spanish designer label may be a fading one but the enfant terrible of fashion world with his outrageous creations in paper, plastic and metal during the experimental 60s, saw it fit to hire Arora as his successor.

A lot now remains to be seen as Arora may be expected to pull off a coup and get the Paco Rabbane label back to the top tier just as his predecessor Decarnin did to Balmain. Paco Rabanne may be a fading brand name, but when a still-alive designer gives way for younger talent, only good things can be predicted. Rabanne and Arora have much in common. Paco Rabanne, now owned by the European Puig Beauty and Fashion Group, was founded by the Francisco “Paco” Rabaneda Cuervo. In his hey days in the 1960s, Rabanne was known for making unconventional clothes with metal, paper and plastic and was as outlandish as his new successor is. The brand hasn’t sent down a collection down the runways of Paris since 2006.

The chief designer at Paco Rabanne was Christophe Decarnin before Arora came into the picture. Decarnin headed the label for seven years before he moved to another fading name — Balmain — and turned it into  a super-premium fashion label with power shoulders, sequins, rock T-shirts and ripped jeans with sky-rocketing prices.

Being acclaimed as a rising design star in France, Arora is not unknown. Not only does he demand the best-placed mannequins at Maria Luisa, the super-chic Rue du Faubourg-St Honore boutique, his collaborations with some big-ticket retail brands are enviable. The Champs Elysees showroom of Nespresso, the hottest coffee-maker around, is dressed up by Arora, with credits on the glass pane that read ‘Manish Arora for Nespresso’. A few seasons ago, it was the MAC makeup store in Paris that had a promotion for him. And his designs for Reebok are available internationally.