Garbo

Greta Garbo (1905-1990). Swedish actress. Cecil Beaton, a sharp observer of the costumes and customs of his time, wrote, “Perhaps nobody else has had such influence on the outward appearance of an entire generation.” The image created for Garbo by the cinema — as also happened with Joan Crawford, another great trend-setter — is linked to the costume designer Adrian. He began to design her clothes in Hollywood in 1928 on the set of Mysterious Lady and continued until her retirement. From that first movie, Garbo established herself as an icon to be imitated by thousands of women. Among her costumes is a trenchcoat lined in wool with a Scottish pattern that appeared in Women’s Wear Daily and was reproduced in thousands of copies. Greta Louis Gustafsson began her film career in Sweden in 1922. In 1924, she became famous after being chosen by Mauritz Stiller for the film Gösta Berlings Saga. She was noticed by Pabst, who offered her a role in Die Freudlose Gasse (1925). It was an international success and resulted in a contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer and a move to Hollywood. That’s where Garbo found not only Adrian as one of the creators of her image, but also the film star hairdresser Sydney Guilaroff. He invented the pageboy haircut for her. In an age devoted to haircuts à la garµonne, it was easily able to impose a vogue for half-lengths. As part of the Garbo image there are also some hats, such as the turban in which she appeared in The Painted Veil (1934) and the beret worn in Ninotchka (1939).