Barocco

Rocco Barocco (1948) is a designer from Naples, active in high fashion and prêt-à-porter. He works in Rome and is famous for the refinement of his brocade and lamé fabrics, and for the tiger- and leopard-spotted designs used for dresses, coats and jackets. He has always extolled a sensual, ironic and non-conformist woman. On Summer vacations in Ischia, at a very young age, he worked at Filippo, a boutique near the harbor where Silvana Pampanini, Gianna Maria Canale and Anna Magnani came to buy their dresses. As he recalls, he is the one who suggested to Magnani that she wear the black petticoat which soon became the symbol of her “Mediterranean” appeal. There he met Patrick de Barentzen and Monsieur Gilles, who had a famous atelier in Rome on via San Sebastianello. The two designers convinced him to move to Rome. In 1968 de Barentzen moved to Paris and Barocco entered into a partnership with Gilles. They set up on via Ludovisi, but fairly soon Rocco decided to open his own atelier. Success was almost immediate, thanks to well-known clients like Claudia Cardinale, Stefania Sandrelli, Ursula Andress, Sandra Milo, Liza Minnelli and Laura Antonelli. In the 1970s his Collections stand out for their optical patterns and bell-bottom trousers. His travels to the East were a great source of inspiration, especially in the search for fabrics, especailly brocades and silks. During the 1980s, though still dedicated to high fashion, the designer began to work in prêt-à-porter and became diversified. It was the start of second lines such as Fashion and RB, of men’s suits, oversized clothes, swimwear, shirts, various leather goods, foulards, gloves, umbrellas and perfumes.
Unconventional and joyful, and at the same time very chic: these are the clothes of Barocco. Everything is assumed, as in every self-respecting movie script : he is always at the service of a risqué sensuality and, at the same time, offers tailoring that would please even the Duchess of Windsor. He has a passion for research and the working of material. At the Milano Moda Donna for Winter 2003-2004, he enchanted everyone with his prohibitively expensive extra-smooth, diamond-embroidered mink coats, and the hand-knitted lynx coats that were like a pullover. There was a change in course, however, for the men’s Collection. After being inspired by the dandies of the past, the Winter 2004 Collection looked to the simplicity of the 1950s and to the myth of James Dean. He amazes by not wishing to amaze.
For the Summer, the designer turned to jewelled costumes embellished with crystal and paste which recalled American jewellery of the 1950s.
In contrast with many of the big names in fashion, Roccobarocco continues to rely on licensees for the manufacture of his women’s wear. Knitwear is manufactured by Sicem, in Soliera (Modena).