Jacassi

Franco (1949). Italian collector from Piedmont. His taste for research and adventure caused him to travel from a very young age. After studying sociology at the University of Trento, he devoted himself to the study of pictorial avant-gardes. In the early 1970s he opened a modern art gallery and started to collect reviews, ancient books, prints, patterns, and fashion photographs. In Vercelli he opened the Dialoghi bookshop, which put him into contact with the most famous entrepreneurs of the textile sector, therefore entering the world of fashion. For Loro Piana he organized a significant patterns Collection and a book entitled The Elegance of Style. The research and re-evaluation of refined and precious materials, sought after with curiosity, stubbornness, and a deep-rooted passion, caused him to visit second-hand markets, old fabric shops, artisans, rescuing ancient buttons, buckles, ribbons, precious fabrics, embroidered tuile, silk flowers from destruction; all of which would have been impossible to reproduce. His task was to collect new things that belonged to another era from around the world. Everything was accurately selected, giving way to an extraordinary Collection of ancient materials from late 1800s to the 1970s. In his atelier in Milan, the Collection is available for use by tailors, designers, and producers, all wishing to draw inspiration for their Collections. Anything can be found there: magazines, photos, patterns, ancient books, original sketches by Dudovich, Guida, Lopez, Boccasile, as well as prints and posters. There are also ancient fabrics from high fashion, tuile or jais embroideries, sequins, passementeries, and all sorts of accessories: French and American bijoux, buckles in Bakelite or mother-of-pearl, haute couture clothes by the most famous tailors, and even an exceptional Collection of buttons from 1500 to 1900. The Collection includes millions of pieces in more than 50,000 models from Liberty to the 1970s. Jacassi’s business does not stop here: he provides new ideas for books on fashion and costume, does technical consultancy for the designing of corporate libraries, organizes theme exhibitions about fashion within various events, from Milano Collezioni to Modit, from Pitti Immagine to the Fashion Vintage Show at the Castello di Belgioioso.