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French designer Courrèges dies aged 92

André Courrèges, who battled Parkinson’s disease for 30 years, revolutionized fashion in the 1960s and helped popularise miniskirts.

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French fashion designer André Courrèges, who revolutionized the fashion industry in the 1960s, has died at the age of 92, the fashion company that bears his name announced on Friday, reports Deutsche Welle.

Courrèges, who battled Parkinson’s disease for 30 years, retired from his vocation in the mid-1990s.

Born on March 9, 1923 in the southern French city of Pau, Courrèges was a radical force in 1960s fashion , with space-age styles that helped define a generation.

It was his 1964 "Space Age" collection that thrust him into the spotlight and made him France’s top fashion designer for a short time.

He created angular mini skirts and trouser suits in stark black-and-white color schemes, then highlighted the designs with oddities such as goggles and helmets taken from astronauts. It was popularly known as the Moon Girl look.

He created formal trousers for women, and found himself at the center of an unending dispute with Mary Quant over who first popularized the miniskirt.

Read more of this report from Deutsche Welle.