Anne Paloma Picasso (born 19 April 1949 in Vallauris, France) known professionally as Paloma Picasso, is a French/Spanish fashion designer and businesswoman, best known for her jewelry designs and signature perfumes. She is the youngest daughter of famed 20th-century artist Pablo Picasso and painter and writer Françoise Gilot. Paloma Picasso's older brother is Claude, her half brother is Paulo and her half sister is Maya.
Paloma literally means "dove" (or "pigeon") in Spanish. Paloma Picasso is represented in many of her father's works, such as Paloma with an Orange and Paloma in Blue.
Paloma Picasso lives in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Paloma Picasso's jewelry career began in 1968, when she was a costume designer in Paris. She loved clothes. Some rhinestone necklaces she had created from flea markets drew 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 Picasso 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 Picasso 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 visual image for the perfume with red and black packaging and shaped bottle. In the New York Post Picasso 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.
Picasso, known for her bold colors and books, 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 Picasso’s personal appearance since she dispensed with the fire-engine-red lipstick favored by her since the age of 17.
Picasso briefly lost interest in designing following the death of her father in 1973, at which time she played Countess Erzsébet Báthory in Polish filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk's erotic film, Immoral Tales (1974), receiving praise from the critics for her beauty. She has not acted since.