Paloma Picasso

Paloma Picasso (born 1949) is a French/Spanish fashion designer and businesswoman, best known for her jewelry designs and signature perfumes.

Early life and name

Born on April 19, 1949 in Vallauris, France, Paloma is the youngest daughter of 20th-century artist, Pablo Picasso and painter/writer Françoise Gilot. Her older brother is Claude and her half brother is named Paulo and her half sister is named Maya.

Paloma means "dove" in Spanish and is a legacy of the dove symbol her father designed for the International Peace Conference in Paris the year she was born. Paloma Picasso is represented in many of her father's works, such as Paloma with an Orange and Paloma in Blue.

Career

Paloma's jewelry career began in 1968, when she was a costume designer in Paris. Some rhinestone necklaces she had created from flea market finds brought positive attention from critics, and she enrolled in a jewelry course. Soon, Yves Saint Laurent asked her to design accessories to accompany one of his collections, and by 1971 she was working for the Greek jewelry company Zolotas.

She also designed sets for playwright and director Rafael Lopez-Cambil (also known as Rafael Lopez-Sanchez) whom she later married.

In 1980 Paloma began designing jewelry for Tiffany & Co. of New York. Her early creations mixed color and varying gemstones in bold designs. She had long used the dove symbol and the color red as signatures of her work which she exploited throughout her career.

Soon Paloma branched into new areas of design when in 1984 she began experimenting with fragrance, creating the very successful "Paloma" perfume for L'Oréal. Her husband, Lopez-Cambil developed the image for the perfume with red and black packaging and shaped bottle. In the New York Post Paloma described it as intended for "strong women like herself". A cosmetics and bath line including body lotion, powder, shower gel, and soap were produced in the same year.

2000s

Paloma still designs jewelry for Tiffany's, however, in 2000 she turned her designer wheel to neutrals. Known for her bold colors and patterns, in 2000 Paloma took her home accessories in a new direction. The once bright primary colors gave way to gray, gold, and tan. This shift was also reflected in Paloma’s personal appearance since she dispensed with the fire truck-engine-red lipstick favored by her since the age of 17.

Film

She briefly lost interest in designing following the death of her father in 1973 but after acting in a film, she recovered the urge to work again. She played countess Countess Erzsébet Báthory in Polish filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk's erotic film, Immoral Tales (1974), receiving praise from the critics for her beauty. She has never acted since.

Personal life

While designing sets for playwright and director Rafael Lopez-Cambil (also known as Rafael Lopez-Sanchez) a relationship developed and in 1978 the couple married in a black-and-white themed wedding.

Paloma Picasso lives in Lausanne, Switzerland.