Pierre Cardin’s will presented by his nephew, who considers himself the heir to his entire fortune, was invalidated by the courts, a setback for Rodrico Basilicati-Cardin while other litigation is underway. The Paris Court of Appeal rendered a ruling on January 25 that AFP was able to consult this Friday, February 9, which does not recognize what was presented as a will of Pierre Cardin, who died in December 2020 at the age of 98.
The designer known worldwide for his bubble dresses and his love story with actress Jeanne Moreau did not have children. His estate, very conflicted, includes twenty-two heirs, nephews, nieces, great-nephews and great-nieces. The designer’s great-nephew, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin, who became general director of the group in 2018 and then its president in November 2020, relied on a holographic will from Pierre Cardin found on July 13, 2022 at the deceased’s home, dated November 10 2016. According to the Court, in this eleven-line document the initials “PC” appear in the tenth line and cannot be considered as “affixed following the writing”, which would make the will valid. “It cannot therefore be concluded that there is a signature on the disputed writing (…) which prevents it from being sent into possession,” according to the judgment.
Since his death, his family has been torn apart over the succession of Pierre Cardin, who left a rich heritage: a holding company and subsidiaries, licenses, brands and real estate, particularly in Paris and Vaucluse. The group’s assets are estimated between 750 and 800 million euros, depending on the buyout proposals, Me Jean-Louis Rivière, lawyer for the designer’s great-nieces, told AFP last August. These great-nieces, who have rallied most of the Cardin family to their position, want the Cardin group to be sold and denounce “an attempt to spoliate their inheritance”.
For his part, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin, who says he worked for nearly twenty-five years with his great-uncle, wishes to “respect the wishes of Pierre Cardin, preserve his empire and defend his image”. Under his leadership, the Pierre Cardin house made its return last March to the official women’s ready-to-wear calendar in Paris after a quarter of a century of absence. In December, he reopened with great fanfare the brand’s historic boutique, facing the Élysée.
