Modenese

Giuseppe, “Beppe” (1929). Public relations expert, communicator, organizer of fashion events, strategist for the global image of Made in Italy and, as a passion, the creator of a signature collection of jewelry for Faraone. He applied lessons learnt from Giovanni Battista Giorgini in Florence (Sala Bianca at Palazzo Pitti) to the needs of the designers who were appearing in strength in Milan in the second half of the 1970s, namely a single centre for runway shows so that buyers and journalists would avoid the arduous grind of moving from one area of the city to another. Most importantly, he was convinced that a combined event, though the runways were still individual and not collective, would reinforce the image of Italian prêt-à-porter. In alliance with the Clothing Industrialists Association, he fought for this idea. The result was the birth in a pavilion at Milan Fair of Modit and the Runway Show Centre, afterwards renamed Milano Collezioni. During the 1990s it was organized by the Chamber of Fashion, with Modenese as the president from 1998 onwards. It was a winning solution. Later it was copied by the French with the Carrousel du Louvre, just at the time when, little by little, the major Italian brands began to desert the runways at the Milan Fair in favor of other backgrounds, creating small theaters and locations in houses. Modenese assisted many emerging designers, particularly ones who were focusing on the US market. Many of them publicly recognise his role in their success. His career began in 1952 when, arriving in Milan from Alba, he found work with Ridotto. Ridotto was a very unusual shop, opened by Giorgini and Olga di Gresy, the founder of the knitwear company Mirsa, in Via Montenapoleone, a sort of proscenium for the most refined selection of Italian craft production. Its management was entrusted to Modenese and the beautiful Neapolitan, Paola Carola. Almost at the same time, he was offered a program on fashion and interior design on television, which was still in an experimental phase. The program continued for ten years. In the 1960s, he was in charge of image and communications for a colossus, Dupont de Nemours, and for the Commission for the Safeguard of Linen. From 1976, he was responsible for public relations and the press office of Idea Como, from 1977 of Mipel (International Fur Market), and from 1979 of Ideabiella. He was a consultant for the Rinascente department store and for the Milan Fair. In addition to Modit and the Milan Collections, he contributed, with the Clothing Industrialists Association, to the creation and organization of Anteprima, Ideamaglia and (1986-90) Contemporary.
&Quad;1998. The start of his collaboration with Expo Cts for the Milan International Antiques Fair.
&Quad;1999. The Sitex Association entrusted him with consultancy and the running of the press office for the international trade fair Moda In.
&Quad;2001. He was made President of MittelModa Premio.
&Quad;2002, July. Italy’s First Lady, Franca Ciampi, awarded him the honor The Capitoline Wolf. In December 1994, he received the Gold Ambrogino and, in 1999, The Camun Rose, the highest honor awarded by the region of Lombardy.
&Quad;2003. He began working with Expo Cts for all fashion events.
&Quad;2003, May. Alba, his home town, awarded him the Gold Medal of the City.
&Quad;2003, June. The Apulia region honored his career with the Gold Seal of Frederick II.