Beslan. In 2006, Rabanne visited Kyiv, Ukraine. He summed up the changes since the Orange Revolution: "Ukraine reminds me of a flower unfolding its petals before my very eyes." In 2011 Manish Arora was named chief designer of Rabanne menswear. Then in 2012 he was replaced in that role by the German fashion designer Lydia Maurer . In mid-2013, Belgian and former Balenciaga designer Julien Dossena was appointed creative director of womenswear at Paco Rabanne. Dossena's designs were subsequently praised by fashion critics. The ateliers are located in Paris above the flagship store of Nina Ricci, another Puig fashion company, on Avenue Montaigne. In January 2016, a new store opened on Paris' Rue Cambon, following the closure of the remaining Paco Rabanne boutiques more than ten years earlier. A re-edit of his classic "le 69" bag was relaunched by Comme des Garçons. Personal life and death Eccentricities Rabanne gained notoriety for making eccentric public statements. He claimed he had lived several lives (including that of a prostitute in the time of Louis XV), to have known Jesus in a previous life, to have seen God three times, to have been visited by extraterrestrials, to have murdered Tutankhamun, and to be 75,000 years old. In 1999, he announced that, at the age of seventeen, he had had visions of Parisians in flames throwing themselves into the Seine and that after studying other concordant prophecies, he came to the conclusion that the Mir space station was going to crash in France at the time of the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999, its debris causing thousands of deaths in Paris and in the Gers region. On 10 May 1999, he publicly vowed not to make any more predictions if Mir did not crash into Paris on 11 August 1999. However, he claimed to have had an apparition of the Virgin Mary telling him to continue the predictions. Death Rabanne died at home in Portsall, Ploudalmézeau, France, on 3 February 2023, aged 88. See also André Courrèges Diana Dew Rudi Gernreich Betsey Johnson Tiger Morse Mary Quant References External links Paco Rabanne, Fashion metallurgist – Musée Le Secq des Tournelles Paco Rabanne black PVC trouser suit in the film Two for the Road (1967) 1934 births 2023 deaths Spanish emigrants to France People from Pasaia Perfume houses French fashion designers Spanish fashion designers French people of Basque descent Basque artists High fashion brands