Lancetti

Pino (1932). Italian designer. His constant reference to the world of art has resulted in his becoming recognized as a tailor-painter. Drawing inspiration from Modigliani, Kandinsky, Picasso, Vasarely, Klimt, Sonia Delaunay, and, above all, Matisse, he was able to create models and fabrics of great chromatic impact both in haute couture and in prêt-à-porter. Born in Umbria, he started as a painter and ceramics decorator but, once he had completed his studies at the San Bernardino Academy in Betto di Perugia, he moved to Rome where, in 1954, he opened his first atelier in Via Margutta. During this period, he worked closely with Carosa, Simonetta Fabiani, De Luca, Schuberth, Antonelli, and the big names of the dawning Italian fashion world. The journalist Irene Brin and the director of the Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, Palma Bucarelli, were among the first to believe in him and to encourage him to establish his own maison. In 1961 he made his début at Palazzo Pitti, Florence, but his greatest success came in 1963, when he presented a collection inspired by military styles. Actresses like Ginger Rogers, Silvana Mangano, and Annie Girardot became his clients, as well as Salima Aga Khan, Anna Bonomi, and Princess Soraya. At the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, he presented collections inspired by the great masters of art, then shifted his interest to folk style, emphasizing soft, falling lines. His clothes were presented in settings like the Villa Medici, Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, and, in 1996, the Casino dell’Aurora in Palazzo Pallavicini. In 1999 Lancetti was bought up by the Compafin group directed by Ugo Paci, who made his own name in the industrial field by managing the cosmetics group Veruska & Joel. In January 2003 Paci died and his wife Luisa took over the reins. She gave responsibility for the company’s artistic direction to Icarius, a young Brazilian designer who had already presented his models in Paris.
&Quad;2005, May. The relationship between the maison and the young Brazilian designer was broken off.