He preferred geometric shapes and motifs, often ignoring the female form. He advanced into unisex fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical. He founded his fashion house in and introduced the " bubble dress " in Cardin moved to Paris in He worked with Elsa Schiaparelli until he became head of Christian Dior 's tailleure atelier in , but was denied work at Balenciaga.
Cardin founded his own fashion house in Cardin inaugurated his haute couture output in with his first collection of women's clothing and became a member of the Chambre Syndicale , a French association of haute couture designers. He was the first to combine the " mini " and the " maxi " skirts of the s by introducing a new hemline that had long pom-pom panels or fringes. Beginning in the s, Cardin set another new trend: "mod chic".
This trend holds true for the form or for a combination of forms, which did not exist at the time. He was the first to combine extremely short and ankle-length pieces.
He made dresses with slits and batwing sleeves with novel dimensions and mixed circular movement and gypsy skirts with structured tops. These creations allowed for the geometric shapes that captivated him to be contrasted, with both circular and straight lines.
Cardin became an icon for starting this popular fashion movement of the early s. Inspired by space travel and exploration, Cardin visited NASA the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in , where he tried on the original spacesuit worn by the first human to set foot on the Moon, Neil Armstrong.
