Avant-garde French designer Pierre Cardin is the founder and sole owner of an empire of hotels, restaurants, theaters and licenses on 900 products in fashion, food and furniture. Even water. The only thing missing is salt and pepper, he often says.

Cardin got his first break in 1946, when Christian Dior opened his fashion house and took on the 20 year old as a designer. Cardin started his own atelier in 1950, made waves with the “bubble dress” and soon became known for his Space Age designs featuring geometric patterns and circles. Cardin sometimes had to challenge accusations that his creations were not practical.

The couturier recognized China’s future as a high fashion market during a visit in 1979 and opened boutiques there at a time when few Western goods were available. Some 30 years later, he staged — at the Chinese government’s behest — a musical production about Italian explorer Marco Polo to coincide with the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

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In his later years, the octogenarian has devoted more time to theater and art and bought a Paris auction house in 2008. Talk of Cardin selling his dynasty surfaces from time to time but he remains its sovereign ruler.