Pierre Cardin showed his first collection in Paris in 1951 and his designs were an overwhelming success due to the fact that he avoided copying the two greatest designers of the time; Dior and Balenciaga. Once an employee at the House of Dior, Cardin helped develop the "New Look" that made Dior so famous. A designer as well as a business man, in 1958 he started a ready-to-wear line to be sold at the Paris department store Au Printemps; a bold move for a French couturier at the time. Probably the look most associated with Cardin was the “Space Age” collections of the mid 1960s. Starting in 1964, Cardin made some of the most futuristic clothing of the era, with severe A-line mini dresses that featured cut-outs and molded forms, space helmet hats and solid color catsuits.