SIXTY SOMETHING: Pierre Cardin and his groundbreaking, avant-garde designs are set to be celebrated in a new book that commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Paris-based fashion house. The 300-page “Pierre Cardin: Fashion’s Architect,” published by Assouline and written by Jean-Pascal Hesse, Cardin’s communications director for the past 15 years, takes a visual journey highlighting Cardin’s contribution to the world of couture, fashion and perfume with his architectural style and futuristic sensibility.

Cardin was born near Venice in 1922, but moved to France as a child. After working briefly with Elsa Schiaparelli in Paris, he joined Dior in 1946 and opened his own couture house in 1950. Cardin, who still owns his namesake company, was the first to show that fashion can be both a creative process and a business. He was briefly expelled from the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode for launching a ready-to-wear collection in 1959, designed nonfashion products such as car interiors and airline uniforms, and later branched out into the art world with the Espace Cardin venue in Paris, as well as acquiring Maxim’s restaurant.

— Elena Berton