Paco Rabanne was born Francisco Rabaneda y Cuervo in 1934, in Pasagès de San Pedro, Spain. Rabanne studied architecture at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-arts in Paris from 1951 to 1963.
In 1963, Rabanne won an award at the Biennale de Paris for an inhabitable garden sculpture, which was exhibited at the Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris. From 1955 to 1963, Rabanne used his sketching skills to finance his architectural studies, regularly working for Roger Model and for Charles Jourdan. In 1959, Women's Wear Daily published seven sketches of his dresses signed "Franck Rabanne." He did not begin using the name Paco professionally until 1965.
