Category: R

Pseudonym of Renato Righetti (1905-1982). Italian artist. Born in Verona. “A man’s character is revealed by the tie he wears,” he wrote in the Futurist Manifesto on Italian Ties, signed along with Ignazio Scurto in 1933. A member of the Second Futurist Movement, he designed an anti-necktie, made of a very light, shiny, durable metal.

Carolyne (1951). American fashion designer. She went into business for herself in 1984, with a line targeting working women (functionality and, at the same time, great care in the patterns, fabrics, and details), and she retired in 1993. She learned her trade by studying fashion and costume at Washington University in Missouri and by working for ten years with Oscar De La Renta.
&Quad;She devoted herself to teaching about gardening and the art of flower arrangements. In 1997, she published A Passion for Flowers (HarperCollins) in which she applied to floral composition the lessons that she had learned in the fields of style and elegance: “I can’t tell you how many times I have seen an outfit ruined because of bad accessorizing; the same thing is true for flowers: even the loveliest flowers ‘don’t work’ if they are put in the wrong vase or set against an inappropriate background.” Two years later, she appeared in bookstores again with Winter Notebook (again, HarperCollins).

Blinding colors, tuft of hair on the forehead, shirts with leather laces and a silver bolo tie, pointed-toe boots, especially in snakeskin, even better still if studded with rivets, leather jackets, jeans that will live forever, skin-tight pants, big collrs. It was the fashion of the rock’n’roll boys of the 1950s, used both by music stars and the Teddy Boys of England. From the early 1980s, the look has reemerged, revised, led by the American band the Stray Cats. The success of the revised look lasted for the entire decade of the 1990s.

Henry (1912-2002). French businessman. He began his career working in the steel business, and enjoyed great success. At the age of 65 he sold his company and focused on the Louis Vuitton company which was entrusted to his direction by the owners, who were related to him through marriage. He transformed the company from a small, elite, artisanal operation (producing trunks, bags bags and valigie) into a universal status symbol griffe. In the 1990s, the rising influence of the new partner Bernard Arnault obliged him to leave the Vuitton company. But he did not retire. He created the Orcofi group, which would in time become a new player in the luxury business. It purchased Lanvin, Philippe Model, Daum, and Andrelux and introduced the Inés de La Fressange griffe.
&Quad;2002. He died at the age of 90 of a heart attack, while traveling to Sardinia. He was survived by his wife and his twin daughters Caroline Bentz and Laurence Fontaine.

French fashion house, founded in 1927 by the dressmaker of the same name, who had worked in the atelier of Caroline Reboux. A great art lover, Rose often took inspiration for her creations from the Impressionists and the various avant-garde artists of the early twentieth century.

Turinese furrier. Famous in the 1950s and 1960s. It was founded by Francesco Rivella, who was the owner of the Casino of Saint Vincent. He also founded a tannery, which allowed him to make profound innovations in the furrier’s art, introducing a significant fashion content to his creations. He would present his collections at SAMIA, the apparel fair of Turin. He was the first to dye beaver skins in fashionable colors. He was also the first to make massive use of advertising, forcing his competitors to adopt this strategy. This gave a strong kickstart to the sector. When Francesco Rivella died, his employees continued to run the company, but not for long.

More than a clothing piece, an element of style, especially in the world of cinema. It identifies typologies of men, situations, and emotions. In the collective imagery, it’s worn by action men: detective or gangsters. But it also appears on the arm of British and American gentlemen. It is often used to shroud the silhouettes of secretaries and starlets who, during the film, turn into stars and heroines. Its simplicity and plain character means it does not distract from the face of its wearer, even if buttoned right up or the collar is turned up, for example, on Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca and Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain. But also Michèle Morgan, Audrey Hepburn, and Marilyn Monroe, who created a different type of woman when wearing a raincoat. It is also standard wear an entire gallery of policemen, detectives, and police chiefs: from Maigret to Inspector Clouseau, Kojak and, ironically, Columbo. The raincoat, a garment present in men’s and women’s wardrobes, was born towards the end of the 19^th century. Like all clothing items, it follows the rules of fashion, and, though keeping its basic characteristics, it varies in width, length, materials, and colors according to the moment. Through the years it has become identified with particular brands and styles: Barbour, Burberry, gabardine, the trench-coat, Mackintosh, Ciré and K-Way.

Amina. Neapolitan dressmaker. She had an atelier in Via dei Mille. She began her business in 1967. She was a master of knitwear, which she interpreted with a very colorful palette and an extremely meticulous approach to execution, a sartorial perfectionism that runs in her blood. In fact, she was a daughter and a sister of the profession. Her father Gennaro, known as Bebè, was one of Italy’s great men’s tailors. He had dressed King Umberto di Savoia (Humbert of Savoy), as well as Vittorio De Sica, Eduardo De Filippo, Curzio Malaparte. Her brother Mariano nobly continued the family tradition.

Alberto (1931). Italian photographer. In 1960 he moved to the United States, first to California and later to New York where he began to work with Harper’s Bazaar. From that time on, he published in Newsweek, Uomo Vogue, Mademoiselle, Domus and for the French, Italian, and American editions of Vogue. His dynamic style, profoundly influenced by the technique of collage, and by the powerful colors and the Op Art of the 1960s, characterized his work, both in his original still-lifes and in his fashion layouts. He worked for Bulgari, Chanel, Seiko, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, Max Factor, and Danskin. He showed his work in many exhibits, at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and at the Venice Biennale in 1981.