Monroe

Marilyn (1926-1962). American actress. With an innocent and slightly sulky expression, she was a blonde who inspired a series of imitators in Hollywood, her voluptuous body often wrapped in shiny, red or flesh-colored lamé covered in diamantés. Norma Jean Baker Monterson progressed from an unhappy childhood, marked by orphanages and adoptive families, to a brief period as a model in which she caused more interest than the clothes she wore, up until the famous advertising calendar where she posed naked: this was the path that led to the cinema. Already blonde and adorned in tight-fitting clothing, she appeared in her first roles: All About Eve (1950) and The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Shortly afterwards, she wore the legendary gold lamé dress with the low-cut back in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), which was immediately reproduced in a flurry of copies. It was created by William Travilla, the actress’s favorite designer. It was again Travilla who chose what has become possibly the most famous dress in the history of cinema, for The Seven Year Itch (1955). The white dress was lifted by a draft from the grate above the metro to reveal Monroe’s “intimates,” the term her character used to describe her undergarments. Immediately following her early death, Monroe became an immortal icon of style. She contributed to the popularity of vertiginous high heels, naked effect sandals with very thin laces, boat-neck tops and Chanel No. 5 perfume, which, she often said, was the only thing she wore in bed at night. As for those clothes that hugged her like a second skin, it is hard to forget the one made for her in May 1962 by the French designer Jean Louis to celebrate President John Kennedy’s birthday party: it was made from flesh-colored silk with an almost transparent effect, and shone with tiny diamantés like little drops of water. It became an inspiration for more than one fashion designer.