Aspesi Alberto is the founder of Aspesi S.p.A, informal clothing brand, known and appreciated for the use of exclusive and avant-garde fabrics.
Alberto Aspesi (1944). He is an Italian designer, born in Gallarate, Varese, in 1944. A nylon down jacket, swollen like a Michelin man, led him to success. In 1969 he founded A&D-Camiceria of Alberto Aspesi, which became Bagarre of Alberto Aspesi in 1973, and finally carried only his own name in 1990.
He has eight lines, aimed at a clothing style that is clean and severe, with a unisex cut. A collection worth mentioning is the one presented in the fashion shows for the fall-winter season of 1999. It is called LSD. Lawrence Steele designed it in collaboration with Aspesi.
Also in this collection was a quilted jacket, though in a different form (it was silver and could be turned into a sleeping bag), always the specialty of the house and the object of constant updating. No cumbersome proportions, a casual style good also in the city, and three different sizes (to the waist, a vest, and to the ankles).
The Aspesi style was always known as basic, but with the line This is a door, here is a sea it adjusted to more trendy needs. High-tech materials, creased velvets, and lots of colors, which certainly didn’t characterize the other lines. The company’s premises are in Legnano.
Important dates for Aspesi
From 1998 to 2006 Aspesi collaborated profitably with Dirk van Dooren, founder of Studio Tomato.
Christy Turlington for a promotional campaign in 1991.
In September 2002 Aspesi signed an agreement with the designer Lawrence Steele. They agreed on the manufacture and marketing of the firm’s lines effective starting the following Spring-Summer season.
In April 2003 Intek, owner of 50% of Alberto Aspesi Inc., sold its shares to Grayliny, which is part of the group 2G Investment. The transfer to the new group, directed by Giuliano Tabacchi, costs €21 million, liabilities included. The remaining half of the capital stock is still owned by Aspesi.
In 2013, in collaboration with Roy Roger, historic jeans brand of the Sevenbell Group, the brands produced two collections. By doing so they employed each other’s know-how. The productions were part of the spring/summer 2014 collection.
Recent years
The Italian private equity fund Armònia SGR acquired the brand in 2017. Today Aspesi is distributed in 51 single-brand stores and in over 600 points of sale worldwide.
The brand closed 2018 with a turnover of about 48 million euros and it foresaw to reach 80 million within five years. The brand also relies on collaboration with the Dutch company Fillig Pieces for the production of their sneakers.
Women’s collection, spring/summer 2019.
Fabio Gnocchi left his role as Aspesi’s CEO in 2019. SimonaClemenza replaced him. Furthermore in the same year the brand opened a new maxi store in the Milan fashion district.
Aspesi RTW Fall 2020
The collection was inspired by the personal and unconventional look of Sixties French yé-yé girls influenced the eclectic spirit. Polka-dot skirts were matched with blouses and peacoats. Printed peasant dresses were worn with lightweight parkas with a technical and classic touch. British patterns were splashed on silk for fluid skirts and shirts enriched with ruffled details. Still focused on urban, functional outerwear, the brand took a big stride forward in the evolution of a consistent ready-to-wear offering.
The timeless classic style of Aspesi – Italian tailoring
Aspesi has always specialized in the production of shirts, over the years and has established itself as one of the most important brands in the world of informal clothing and has written its history through minimal and sophisticated collections.
One piece of the collection.
For the F/W 2020, the brand surprised the consumers with their classic constant style through its unconventional spirit and above all the counter-current no-logo philosophy (a road that it has also recently travelled, with the design of its new store in via San Pietro All’Orto, in Milan) of minimal and sophisticated look.
Talking about the Women collection, the silhouettes and materials are typical of the female fit, but play with a masculine look. Furthermore, the plaid motifs become intriguing in the impalpable silk blouses, while micro floral prints bloom on the blouses. The FW20 collection celebrates the brand’s heritage with upcycled printed fabrics.
For the Men collection, the velvet shirts are enriched with different blouson details, while the overshirts in tailored materials are enriched with workwear details. Military satin is used for zipped shirt-jackets, alongside slightly padded flannel shirts. Colourful stripes vibrate on the checker shirts and the bleached effects to introduce a grunge touch.
Flagship store – Tokyo
Aspesi, supported by Italia Fudsan Real Estate, opened its first flagship store in Tokyo, in the Aoyama fashion district. With several mono brand stores distributed worldwide, the Italian brand combines functionality and versatility for a unique and timeless style. Indeed the 3-level store is characterized by high windows and a minimal contemporary design, based on the same elements of the Milan’s store.
The signature style of Aspesi’s shirt jacket
Aspesi unveils the latest evolution of one of its signature piece, the shirt jacket, in occasion of ApritiModa. Ever since its foundation in 1969, the brand has become style statement for the stylish wardrobe staples, especially shirts and outerwear. It mainly focused on the materials and development of designs.
The shirt jacket is a crossover piece that combines the practicality and versatility of a shirt with the characteristics of a lightweight nylon jacket. It is perfect for the mid-season or as an extra layer in the depths of winter. The product of an innovative idea that sees the garment acquire new transversal functionality, free of seasons.
Aspesi is committed to eco-sustainability. In fact, the shirt jacket is designed with Thermore wadding, entirely produced from recycled plastic. The signature style shirt jacket is made in soft high-density waterproof and windproof nylon taffeta. This master piece features rounded shoulders, two small front patch pockets and is fastened with coloured press-studs to match the shirt.
Lawrence Steele, Aspesi’s new creative director
Lawrence Steele was appointed creative director in November 2020. He will take care of all aspects related to the brand image, from the design of the men’s and women’s collections to communication. Furthermore, the designer has the task of “enriching the emotional range of Aspesi. Expanding and articulating the scope of a style that opposes volatile frivolity with a militant awareness, under the sign of Made in Italy”.
Lawrence Steele.
With past experience in Aspesi as head of the women’s line, Steele has also collaborated in the with numerous luxury brands. Among these Moschino, Prada and Marni during his career in the fashion industry.
Steele believes, “The attention to detail and the study of materials are no less remarkable. But what for him is the value to be explored is the humanistic character. Putting the person at the centre, creating clothes that combine beautiful and useful and that are instruments of individual representation, not of camouflage”.
Mannequeen Town – Joions the league of inspiring 2020 fashion campaigns
The Aspesi campaign has as its only protagonist Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in an imaginary city populated with mannequins. It was the winner of the UK Fashion Film Festival and produced by NSSfactory. The story follows a humorous election campaign, and result is the creation of a retro universe halfway between Lynch’s surrealism and John Waters’ humour camp.
Marco Rambaldi, the talented Bolognese designer born in 1990, designs a woman free from preconceptions and constraints, daughter of those 70s and the most sincere Made in Italy.
The Origin
Marco Rambaldi was born in Bologna in 1990. After graduating in Graphic Design and studies in Product Design, he graduated in 2013 in Fashion Design at the IUAV University of Venice.
Marco Rambaldi Portrait
His debut took place in Milan on February 2014 and, on that occasion, he won the Next Generation contest sponsored by the Italian National Chamber of Fashion.
In 2017 she is one of the finalists of Who Is On Next?, a fashion scouting project dedicated to young fashion talents, conceived and created by Altaroma in collaboration with Vogue Italia.
The Brand
“My brand wants to free women from preconceptions, prejudices and stereotypes. He decided in their final intentions, changing in the desire to wear different garments but that enhance the big or small curves that they are, the more or less marked wrinkles. “Marco Rambaldi
Rambaldi starts from here with his stylistic reasoning, but in a post-contemporary key. A changing image, as changing, is the reference woman, staying between new freshness and memories of the past.
“We Also Want Roses”
The cultural and sexual revolutions are the concept of the creative project of the Bologna born, Marco Rambaldi, presented during the AltaRoma edition of January 2018.
The theme of sexual liberation has been debated at night but it is still a taboo. Knowing how to tell through a collection is even more difficult and to do it, you need to have enough sensitivity.
Marco Rambaldi Fall 18 Collection
Cropped frames, faded covers and poster fragments: the Rambaldi collection marks the unequivocal seventies aestheticism, underlining it with vibrant prints and colors. The “revolution” of the Fall/Winter 2018-19 line drawn by the stylist highlights the social involution through playful and light items but from the revolutionary aplomb.
The Woman of Marco Rambaldi
On the Fall/Winter 2018-19 catwalk both mature women, like the Valerie transsexual friend, and young models parade: the Rambaldi leaders do not know their age and do not have a defined target.
Marco Rambaldi Valerie
The sexual liberation of the seventies, source of inspiration for the Fall/Winter Season 2018-19, overturns the taboo of today. Women’s rights, feminist struggles and pornography are the focal themes of the collection. Printed on fabrics, moments set in jacquard, jackets with male cuts, crochet trimmings and tie and dye prints, all to enhance and make the woman free to express herself and always be herself.
“Take care of Yourself” Print Sweater
Frame Print Skirt
Corduroy Outfit
Over Coat With Faux Fur Collar
Faux Fur and Pencil Skirt With Hearts
Over Coat Jaquard
Mina, Ornella Vanoni, Anna Oxa, are just some of the divas representing the Rambaldi woman. They are proposals on knitwear, they are the music that accompanied the show and are the muses of femininity and sexual freedom of the 2018 collection.
Made in Italy
The Milanese office is composed of the stylist, the right-hand man Giulia Geromel and Andrea Batilla, a historical fashion journalist. Lately he has joined Rambaldi’s fiancé, Filippo Giuliani, who takes care of the styling. Production remains in Italy, in a town between Milan and Bologna. Above all they are creative Made in Italy, not only for the place where the products are developed, but because the creativity, all the history and the aesthetics behind it is Italian. A sincere Made in Italy.
Gaetano Pollice, who grew up in Guglionesi, is a young designer who, with his bags, becomes the spokesperson of the tradition of Molise and of the made in Italy craftsmanship.
The Origin
The fashion designer Gaetano Pollice grew up in Guglionesi, a town in the Molise hinterland. He lived and studied in Milan and Bologna, arriving (also for work reasons) up to China, Japan, Russia, Korea, India and the United States.
Pollice Big Stars Burgundy
Despite numerous travels, Gaetano, very tied to the local traditions, has always returned to Italy. And precisely Italy, or rather Molise, with its culture and its flavors, is the protagonist of the designer’s bags. Pollice, therefore, becomes the spokesperson of the Molise tradition through bags that mark the savoir-faire of the artisans who have actively accompanied the brand born in 2015 on the success.
On this resourceful team the stylist says: “I feel like the captain of a boat that goes off and whoever takes it forward is as crazy as me. That madness necessary to risk and to rejoice when finally the dry land is sighted. This boat is called Made in Molise and the Molise artisans and my family all got on board aware of starting an infinite journey. An adventure that every day recognize me as a salvation, because a craftsman today if he can not experience is bored. But we do not even have a moment to get bored; we get our hands dirty every day and with our hands we make these jewels that since 2015 now make us dream. “
The style of Gaetano Pollice
The Tombolo bag is proof of Gaetano’s attachment to his homeland, a fine woman’s handbag whose decoration, in fact, is obtained with the ancient embroidery technique that dates back to the 16th century. In Molise, in fact, there are still women who make these precious embroideries, which weave ivory-colored threads with the help of spindles. A small museum has been founded in Isernia that preserves all the old embroidered canvases in Tombolo.
Gaetano Pollice Tombolo Bag
All the pieces of the collections are created and made in Italy, precisely in Campobasso, in the Made in Molise laboratory. And not just for the production of leather goods: all professionals (graphic designers, photographers, illustrators) were born and live in Molise, which incredibly strengthens the image of the brand. Gaetano says convinced:
“The perfume of Molise must come out all when you open my bag […] Craftsmanship. Creativity. Manuality. Tradition. Passion. Joy. With these words I want to summarize my brand. “
Showcase 2018
Gaetano Pollice is among the talents selected by Showcase, a new project by AltaRoma and Agenzia Ice in favor of emerging Made in Italy fashion and design. For the occasion, the designer presents “What it is, is Beautiful”, a new collection of Made in Molise bags.
Big Domy Half Moon
Domy Big Wave
Big Stars Burgundy
The new collection this time speaks of the sea, of saltiness, of the Molise sea that I love so much and with whom I grew up. Water is life and water gives life. In these years I have made my own a quote, “what it is, is beautiful”, in fact. Whatever we do, whoever we are and whatever we want to achieve, everything will still be beautiful. “Gaetano Pollice
Jellyfish and starfish are the protagonists of the collection. The color palette rotates all around the burgundy, the main color: ink violet, nude, light blue, gold and silver, red.
The brand was born in 2012 from the homonymous designer Marianna Cimini, from the Amalfi coast. The talent of Marianna is immediately recognized by the fashion business, for its ability to merge fashion and art, giving life to a unique vision.
The Origin
Marianna Cimini
Marianna Cimini is a fashion designer from Campania, who grew up on the Amalfi Coast. She moved very young to Milan to attend the prestigious Istituto Marangoni and her attitude towards fashion was immediately appreciated by several brands. He soon began collaborating with important and established Italian brands including MaxMara, where he designed the MaxMara and Tod’s line for more than three years, where he was responsible for a capsule collection (limited edition) for Fay Donna.
Style of the Brand
In 2012, the designer launched the eponymous brand Marianna Cimini during the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Milan, meeting with critical acclaim. Entirely Made in Italy, immediately distinguished by the balance between femininity and actuality. The brand combines love for well-defined lines with simplicity and the functionality of sportswear gives the collections a sporty-chic essence.
Marianna Cimini has a contemporary image that is not without refinement. The collections, in fact, are composed of extreme linearity, occasionally distorted by overlaps and overlapping volumes.
Awards and Recognitions
Marianna Cimini has a career full of awards. Among his successes, the victory at the Premio Moda Italia sponsored by the CNA and a special mention of the Next Generation competition organized by the CNMI. She was also a finalist in the Muuse for Vogue Talents for the Young Vision Awards. In 2014 has the opportunity to show for the first time in Rome, on the occasion of the tenth edition of Who is on Next? – competition organized by Vogue Italia and AltaRoma. Several times reported by Vogue, in September of the same year is included by Vogue Talents among the best 200 emerging designers.
Fashion and Art Come Together
The autumn / winter 2018-19 collection, presented at Altaroma, is inspired by “La femme à l’ombrelle” by Claude Monet. The collection turns out to be a sort of play on the reverse, a bit like the painting, one of the most representative paintings of Impressionism, but already so vivid of the imminent modernity.
Marianna Cimini La femme à l’ombrelle, Claude Monet, 1886
The stylist, always fascinated by the painter with strong contrasts, reasons on the ambivalence of Monet, both in the composition and in the color palette. There are two levels of reading, one romantically evanescent but readable in the female figure – in the white of her dress and in the blue of the sky – the other dark and disordered, tending to grasp the unknownity of modernity through the nervous brush stroke of the lawn shaken by the wind. Two similar but opposite souls merge to recreate a new, different one, interpreted by Marianna Cimini with an idea of New Romanticism.
The looks presented in the fashion show, without following chromatic balances, followed the “chaos” of opposites of the generative act, as well as the musical choices that accompanied them. The silhouettes are aimed at recreating these contrasts and their contradictions, overlapping shoulder pieces from the masculine cut to the more romantically soft lines of the long and mini dresses, generating new volumes. Then there are the technical fabrics such as nylon, faux fur and eco-leather combined with silks, decisive colors illuminated by sequins and the most delicate colors such as sage green as a background for the macro-floral prints or the soft knit azure lit by lurex.
With the Fall/Winter Collection 2018-2019 Marianna Cimini offers her personal interpretation of a new woman, emancipated, at ease with herself in any context and at any age.
“Each garment is intended to be worn at any occasion or time of day. A simple trouser suit with a masculine cut can be transformed, with the addition of an accessory like a knit collar, into a refined glamorous outfit for a sudden dinner. The silk dresses, but with sporty lines, can be used to satisfy every need simply by playing on accessories or on jewels.” Marianna Cimini
The Cimini Woman
The Fall/Winter 2018-19 collection connotes a pleasant romanticism that sometimes contrasts with the highly contemporary line of the garments. These proposals are aimed at a woman who fully lives her contemporaneity, able to exploit the inherent creative ability, properly feminine, to face the challenges and rhythms that modern times impose.
That of Marianna Cimini is a woman who does not withdraw from the unexpected, is imaginative and ironic and this allows her to be impeccable and at ease always.
With a refined but not rigorous presence, it is elegant and contemporary: freshness and lightness of lines and prints for a sophisticated charm. The colors, powerful, are combined with contrast, according to the style that Marianna defines “metropolitan graphics”, minimalist graphicism that smells of Mediterranean boldness.
“My collection, like the others that preceded it, is aimed at interpreting a decisive and dynamic woman who does not renounce her femininity in its most romantic but not necessarily mawkish meaning, or her intimate fragility that is not to be understood as a synonym of weakness. If I had to translate into a message what I pursue with my vision, I would say that it is to show with pride every little facet of one’s being a woman, without conditioning.” Marianna Cimini
Line of men’s and women’s shoes manufactured by Nuova Centauro. The firm, whose focus is the comparison between tradition (in style and technique) and innovation, was established with the name Centauro in 1947 by the brothers Luigi and Dino Guardiani in Montegranaro, Italy in the Marche region. In 1972 Alberto Guardiani, Dino’s son, took over the business, at a moment when Dino was the sole proprietor.
Alberto Guardiani Men’s Shoes
In 1980 Alberto renamed the company, Alberto Guardiani, launched a women’s line and, while maintaining production of the firm’s classic items. Also, he launched Low Tide, a brand aimed at young people and the sports market.
In 1999 in Montegranaro, Ascoli Piceno, the company built a vertically integrated plant that could design, cut, and assemble garments, with an atelier for the finishing touch.
Alberto Guardiani Development
February 27, 2007 Alberto Guradiani opened a new showroom at 29 Corso Venezia in Milan. The showroom is in an 18th-century building that was originally a monastery where pilgrims could stay and was later turned into a residence by the Calzoni-Sforza family. It is an ideal stage for Alberto Guardiani’s style, a poetic landscape for exclusive goods and an expression of democratic luxury.
Also, in 2007 the brand opened a new store in Piazza di Spagna in Rome and a year later in Naples. “This is the first step on a tight agenda that will see, by February 2008, the opening of two further single-brand stores in Italy, another two important pieces in our retail development plan. So far, there are 11 single-brand shops across the world”, explained Alberto Guardiani.
In March 2009 the brand released the Eiffel Tour limited edition collection to celebrate 120 years off the symbol in Paris. To celebrate, Alberto Guardiani signs a limited edition where a Eiffel Tour shines on the black patent leather like the sky of a Parisian night.
Icon: Lipstick Heel
Alberto Guardiani Lipstick Heel
Alberto Guardiani’s lipstick heel is a pump with a lipstickshaped heel. It is both a shoe and an icon that draws inspiration from the great stars of the past and the present. It plays with the glamorous and provocative atmosphere of La Dolce Vita, symbolised by Anita Ekberg’s sensual ruby lips.
Current Situation
Today, the brand is run by Alberto Guardiani and Rossella Beato Guardiani. In 2016 Serena Guardiani, daughter of Alberto and granddaughter of founder Dino, has been appointed creative director of the brand’s women’s collections. Serena graduated from Milan’s Istituto Marangoni and joins her elder sisters Rubina and Guya within the company.
Portrait of young Santo, Donatella and Gianni Versace
Gianni Versace (1946-1997) was one of the greatest Italian designers, founder of the company of the same name, Gianni Versace SpA. Born in Reggio Calabria in 1946, Gianni Versace took his first steps in the world of fashion, helping his mother, a dressmaker, owner of a clothing store that, in addition to selling ready-made models, produced its own line. In 1972, a trip to Milan opened the doors of the industry when, called by Ezio Nicosia and Salvatore Chiodini, to collaborate in a collection for Florentine Flowers. His creations were a success and his name began to turn among the insiders, allowing him to continue working in the Lombard capital. He designed for De Parisini, Callaghan, Genny and Alma companies.
The Beginning of Versace
Versace Supermodels in the 1990s
In 1976, with the help of his accountant brother Santo, he founded the company that bears his name and the first women’s collection was presented two years later, at the Palazzo della Permanente. Gianni Versace’s success was instantaneous. A style immediately applauded by the international press, enthusiastic about his clothes full of genre contaminations, paves the way for him.
Also, the brand contributed to the birth of the phenomenon of supermodels: Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, and Christy Turlington. Gianni was the first to bring out the character of the models as well as enhance their beauty. At this time, the Versace model was transformed. She is no longer a model but a role model, she has personality and embodies an ideal to be achieved, for all women.
Gianni Versace With Supermodels
In the meantime, his sister Donatella, Gianni’s muse and advisor, had also joined the company. Initially she took care of the public relations and brand communication, collaborating in the creation of important advertising campaigns with Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts, Bruce Weber and Steven Meisel. But, above all, the most memorable shots were with the photographer Richard Avedon. He exalted the image of the fashion house in the world fashion firmament; a partnership that lasted for several seasons and which will wrote many pages of the history of communication. Subsequently, Donatella became creative director of the young Versus line.
Gianni’s Style
Versace was able to mix with ease the contemporary languages of pop art with elements of Greek culture (hence the logo of the Medusa inspired by Greco-Roman iconography), alternating Renaissance and Baroque motifs with precious embroidery and psychedelic colors.
The success of the maison conquered the whole world, even the United States, where the ultra modern and extravagant style was increasingly appreciated. All the Eighties and the beginning of the Nineties were characterized by the territorial expansion of the brand and by very successful collections that built the empire still standing.
Versace Campaign 1994 Models Nadja, Christy, Claudia, Cindy and Stephanie
The fashion shows presented iconic pieces from the era, including very tight and colorful fuseaux with inlays, dresses in meshes of metal fibers, silks with geometric patterns, jackets with prints of pop culture icons. Versace risked a lot in presenting such a daring and avant-garde fashion, but made every garment and treated it as a work of art and as a result was always rewarded by both the public and the critics.
Collaboration with the Arts
Besides being a great collector, Gianni also worked in close contact with the world of theater, opera and ballet. His long collaboration with the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, which was very important, began in 1982. Gianni created the costumes of the ballet Josephlegende (by Richard Strauss, directed by Luigi Veronesi) and continued to create for many other performances by great choreographers and directors such as as Maurice Béjart, Robert Wilson, Rolant Petit, John Cox, William Forsythe and Twyla Tharp. There were many celebrities that boasted friendship with Gianni Versace, including Lady Diana, his friend and confidant, the singer Elton John, for which in 1992 he designed the cover of the album as well as all the costumes of his World Tour, and the top model Naomi Campbell.
Versace Home Collection
Gianni was the owner of immense villas scattered around the world, and he loved to furnish them with contemporary works of art, imperial furniture and Greek-Roman statues. He was also one of the first designers to launch a line for the home: the Versace Home Collection that will include furnishings, furnishing accessories, lamps, linens, tiles, porcelains and crystals.
Gianni Versace’s Death
The tragedy occurred on July 15, 1997. Gianni Versace is murdered on the steps of Casa Casuarina, in Miami, shot. The murder shocked the whole world raising many doubts and questions about the motive of the murder, which is still unclear. The killer, Andrew Cunanan, was found dead a few days later. It was a blow to the Medusa, for his family, but also for the whole Italian fashion system that will suddenly lose one of its biggest points of reference. After Gianni’s death, the creative direction was handed over to his sister Donatella who inherited 20% of the company’s value and was also the charismatic new face of the fashion house. 30% will go to Brother Santo, president and then CEO. The majority of the stock (50%), for a value then estimated at $700 million, will go to the beloved nephew Allegra, daughter of Donatella and Paul Beck.
The Brand Relaunched
Madonna For Versace Campaign
The death of the founder does not open an easy time for the company which saw its business in decline right at the turn of the new millennium. At the end of 2000 the new company structure was outlined, focused on a holding company and two subsidiaries; the same year a long-term agreement was signed with Euroitalia, for perfumes and cosmetics. For several years the company had difficulty competing with the glories of the past. Multiple managers alternated at the top of the administration, until 2004, when the company found stability with Giancarlo Di Risio, who was ready to start the company reorganization by relaunching the brand. Advertising investments were enhanced, which involved more and more celebrities from the world of cinema and music. For Donatella, a famous testimonial communicates the character of a collection more easily and quickly. Celebrities who posed for advertising campaigns worldwide includes; Madonna, Demi Moore, Christina Aguilera, Halle Berry, Patrick Dempsey.
Halle Berry For Versace Campaign
There was a lot of focus on upgrading the prêt-à-porter line, enlisting the two new fashion designers Warren Davis and Kinder Aguggini, respectively for the men’s line and the younger line. Also, Versace activated ambitious expansion policies in transversal luxury projects, diversifying its business with interior design and furnishing for private jets, yachts and helicopters.
It will also strengthen its territorial presence in the Far East with strategic agreements and acquisitions for a chain of Versace Luxury Hotels; the first of these opened in 2000 on the Australian Gold Coast, followed by another in Dubai. In 2006 the Versace Theater was inaugurated in Milan, a multifunctional space that also served as a location for future fashion shows. The following year is the tenth anniversary of Gianni’s death, which is remembered with a ballet by Maurice Béjart, presented at the Scala in Milan. Also, the biography The myth Versace (Dalai editore) is also published and a special scholarship is established that bears his name, in collaboration with the European Institute of Design.
Brand Development
Since 2008, while the collections received increasing support, the group announced an important expansion plan in Asia, which took shape in the following years with the opening of several stores in China. In 2010 more than 20 single-brand stores were presented in the “Asian giant” with excellent sales performance and further expansion forecasts. From 2009, Gian Giacomo Ferraris, took over from Giancarlo Di Risio, in the role of managing director. Gian Giacomo Ferraris cut costs, revised the network of direct shops and reduced investments. At this time, the brand officially announced the passage of the license of Versus from Ittierre to the Facchini group, which took charge of the production of clothing and accessories of the young line.
Versace Versus SS15
In 2010 there will be an increase in revenues that exceed the ceiling of €292.3 million, up 9.1% compared to the previous year. After the international crisis, a plan to reconquer Japan was planned, which in 2009 saw the closure of its three single-brand stores. Hiroshi Saito was appointed as chief executive officer of Versace Japan and opened new stores as well as additional points of sale to reinforce the presence of the brand in the area.
Collaboration with H&M
Versace Collaboration With H&M 2011 Campaign
In 2011 important collaborations of media impact were signed. In June the partnership between the fashion house Versace and the Swedish clothing giant H & M was announced. Starting from November, the clothing chain would sell 40 women’s and men’s 20 pieces, including several accessories, for a low-cost, strictly limited edition line, signed by Donatella. A way to bring the Versace world closer to a younger and wider audience. There was the most iconic pieces of the whole Versace, but also what the fashion house represents today in its continuous evolution. There were famous prints, lots of leather and studs because Versace is sexy and glamorous but also rock’n’roll.
Starting from July 1, 2011, Versace gave life to another collaboration with a strong media echo, announcing that it will wear the International Football Club of Milan. The agreement is signed between the fashion house and the Nerazzurri company, with the supply of official uniforms for managers, coaches, technical staff and players.
Current Situation
Versace Spring/Summer 2018 Runway Show a Tribute to Gianni Versace
Versace in now owned and managed by the family (50% Allegra Beck Versace, 30% Santo Versace, 20% Donatella Versace). Currently, Santo Versace is president of the group’s board of directors and Donatella is creative director as well as vice president of the board of directors. The company creates, produces and distributes luxury and lifestyle products including the Haute Couture Atelier Versace range, ready-to-wear collections, accessories, jewelry, watches, eyewear, fragrances and home furnishings and the second Versus line.
Today the Gianni Versace S.p.A. It is one of the most prestigious names in the international fashion luxury scene. The brand distributes its products through a network of 110 boutiques present in the main cities of the world, plus the 123 shop in shops dedicated in the main department stores and multi-brand stores.
Donatella Versace at Men’s Spring 2018 Milan Fashion Week Collection
Alberta Ferretti is an Italian fashion designer, founder of the homonymous clothing line, and vice-chairman of the AEFFE Group board of directors, founded in 1981 together with her brother Massimo.
Alberta Ferretti Portrait
Alberta was born in Gradara, in the land of Romagna. Always having a great sense of aesthetics, her first steps of success include working in her mother’s tailor shop where she learned how to handle the fabrics, to know the sophisticated colors and become familiar with the workings. Her sartorial DNA and ambition is so strong that, at just 18 years, she opened her first boutique, in Cattolica, an experience which put her in direct contact with the needs of customers and refined her intuition in anticipating the trends of fashion and the desires of women.
AEFFE Company
In 1974 she produced her first collection that will earn great success among the insiders; encouraged by the public response, six years later, together with her brother Massimo, they founded the company AEFFE, which bears her initials. Over the years the company became a powerful corporate group that controls and produces, in addition to the Alberta Ferretti line, also the Moschino, Pollini brands and Velmar. From the eighties onwards, business developed in an unstoppable way. The company launched the Philosophy line, again designed by Alberta Ferretti, aimed at a younger target and positioned on a lower price range. The company purchased licenses for the production of prominent prêt-à porter brands such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Authier, Cacharel and Marithé & François Girbaud.
Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti White Printed Stretchpoplin Dress
Acquisitions of equity packages from various other companies began, confirming AEFFE’s strength in moving as an international holding company. While Brother Massimo will take care of the economic and management part of the company, Alberta will always keep in hand the creative direction, focusing on his feminine creations distinguished by pure lines, essential and decorations with precious embroidery. Collections that will be appreciated all over the world allowing the opening of numerous boutiques and corner shops in shops on four continents. Particular attention will be devoted, in recent years, to the Far East market, on which the company is moving, in line with market trends, to further expand its presence.
Cultural Heritage
Linda Evangelista Campaign 1990
The designer, over the years, stood out as particularly sensitive to the care of artistic and cultural heritage. In 1994, with a group of companies and the patronage of the City and the Region, will promote the titanic restoration of the medieval village of Montegridolfo, near her birthplace, on the border between Romagna and Marche.
After about six years of work, the village regained its lost identity, appearing as it was at the origins and finding economic sustainability as a new tourist destination. The use demonstrated in the enhancement of this architectural and landscape heritage will be worth, in 2000, the honorary degree in Conservation of Cultural Heritage, conferred by the University of Bologna. The same university institute, in 2003, called her by assigning her a chair to hold a master’s degree in “Production and Culture of Fashion”.
Alberta Ferretti Awards
During her career Alberta Ferretti will be the recipient of numerous awards including the The Romantics award from the International Fashion Group in New York, the La Kore Award as Stylist of the Year in 2003, the Career Award given to her by the Mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni as well as the prestigious honorary title of Cavaliere del Lavoro of the Italian Republic.
Bridal Collection
Alberta Ferretti Forever Bridal Collection 2015
In 2010, as an organic extension for the company, Alberta Ferretti Forever, a special bridal collection was introduced. The dresses are romantic and airy through use of chiffon with delicately added embroidery, lace, ruffles or pleats. According to Aeffe S.p.A. annual report for 2015, the Alberta Ferretti brand increased by 17.0% and the brand’s net sales were €23.94 million, while the company total revenue was €274.04 million.
Current Situation
Spring 2017 Collection Milan Fashion Week
To keep up with the new trends in the luxury market, the Pre-fall 2017 collection included a capsule called Rainbow Week, which was available for See-Now-Buy-Now sale. Rainbow Week is brand’s first capsule knitwear collection which includes seven sweaters in different colours with the day of week written on them. The sweaters were endorsed on runway by both men and women, which reflect the other tendency in fashion world, gender fluidity. Today AEFFE is a corporate group that generates more than €200 million in revenues per year, employs 1,300 and produces 2 million garments a year, distributed in a network of 190 single-brand stores and over 6500 selected points of sale.
Gianfranco Ferré was born in Legnano (Milan) on August 15, 1944.
After earning his high school diploma specializing in sciences, he enrolled in the School of Architecture at the Milan Polytechnic Institute. In 1969 he graduated, presenting a thesis on the “Methodology of the Approach to Composition” with Franco Albini, an architect, as his major professor.
Gianfranco Ferre Dressing Model in 1982
The Debut
His very first, quite off-hand entry into the world of fashion took place in the same years. Ferré designed jewelry and accessories that he would then give to friends and classmates. Rosy Biffi, a true talent scout as well as the owner of one of Milan’s edgiest boutiques, had occasion to notice the creations. She mentioned them to Ileana Pareto Spinola and Anne Sophie Benazzo, two women who were so impressed by these handcrafted items that they suggested buyers might take an interest in them. At that point prominent Italian fashion editors (initially, Anna Piaggi and Anna Riva) happened to spy the creations. This led to coverage in major specialty mags and in 1971 one of the accessories appeared on the cover of the Italian monthly “Arianna”. Ferré’s early debut on the scene proved very successful. It even attracted the attention of leading Italian journalist Camilla Cederna, who talked about Ferré in her weekly column for the newsmagazine “L’Espresso”.
India
In 1973, the young architect-designer made the first of his many trips to India, where up until 1977 he spent long periods working for the Genoa-based San Giorgio Impermeabili clothing company owned by the Borelli family. In India he designed and had manufactured the company’s “Ketch”collection. At the same time, he had the chance to visit every part of the country and to study local craftsmanship and production potential, also on behalf of the Indian government. Ferré fell literally under the spell of India, a land where he consolidated his professional training and embarked on his creative path. From India he learned a fundamental lesson of life, all about the colors, scents and shapes forming a whole with feelings, sensations and emotions. It’s a lesson that he would later transfer to and instill inextricably in his collections, through his own remarkable way of reminiscing and remembering.
The First Collection
In the same years, during his stays in Italy, he did free-lance work designing accessories for prominent fashion names such as Walter Albini and Christiane Bailly, as well as knitwear and swimwear for other companies in the sector. His swimsuits debuted on the catwalk at the “MareModa Capri” event, winning a prize that marked the first of many the designer would earn throughout the course of his career.
In 1974, Gianfranco Ferré began designing his first collections, hosting his first fashion shows, in particular for the “Courlande” and the “Baila” labels , the latter which belonged to Franco Mattioli, a Bolognese industrialist who in 1978 would become his business partner.
A Brilliant Career
In May of 1978, in fact, the Gianfranco Ferré company was set up on Via San Damiano in Milan (later the headquarters would move to Via della Spiga). In October of the same year, Ferré presented his debut signature women’s ready-to-wear collection with a show at the Principe di Savoia Hotel in Milan, truly a thrilling moment.
In addition to the launch of the men’s clothing line in 1982 , and to the introduction of a wide range of accessories and other products on license in partnership with leading companies in the various respective sectors, Ferré made a mark with two other key experiences: the creation of his own Alta Moda collection (1986-1989) and his extraordinary adventure at the finest and most storied of French fashion houses.
In 1983, he helped to develop the curriculum for Domus Academy, the new Milan-based Design, Design Management and Fashion Design Post-graduate School where up until 1989 he taught the course in Dress Design: analysis of dress design and relation to changing fashion, analysis of the design project from start to finish.
In May of 1989, Gianfranco Ferré was appointed Artistic Director of Christian Dior for the women’s Haute Couture, Prêt à Porter and Fourrure lines. Confirmation of the Dior appointment up to 1996 came in 1993.
Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 96 Show in France
In the fall of 1998, on the occasion of the brand’s twentieth anniversary a series of events important for the company’s future culminated with the grand opening in Milan of the new headquarters on Via Pontaccio: in the former Gondrand building, after a total renewal based on the initial project by Marco Zanuso, then completed by Franco Raggi both on the level of the executive project and interior architecture.
The Last Years
In 2002, the Gianfranco Ferré Company was acquired by Tonino Perna’s IT Holding Group. Gianfranco Ferré became Artistic Director of the house.
In March of 2007, Gianfranco Ferré was appointed President of the Brera Fine Arts Academy in Milan.
After suffering a brain hemorrhage, Gianfranco Ferré died in Milan on June 17, 2007.
Events, Exhibitions and Projects
70’s
1975: Creation of garments for SNIA’s “Dressing in Jersey” project
1976: Creation of garments for the project “Pizzi e Rasi” of SNIA, Milan; creation of garments for the project “The day of a child” by Leacril Montefibre, Milan; creation of garments for the project “New signatures for new projects” of SNIA, Milan
1977: Creation of garments for the “SNIA per 6 sports” project, Milan
1978 / ’79: Creation of garments for the “Zegna Baruffa” yarns at Pitti Filati, Florence; event – fashion show for “Saks Fifth Avenue“, New York
80’s
Fall/Winter 87 Photographed by Herb Ritts
1981: Creation of the representation uniform for Lea Pedini, Capitana del Popolo, Regent of the Republic of San Marino, worn on the occasion of the inaugural ceremony, Milan.
1982: Participation in the exhibition “Intimate Architecture: Contemporary Clothing Design”, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston; Fashion show at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), linked to the exhibition “Intimate Architecture: Contemporary Clothing Design”, Boston; participation in the “Design in Italian Society in the Eighties” exhibition: traveling exhibition in the USA, by the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
1983: Sponsorship of the restoration of the Guercino frescoes in the dome of the Duomo of Piacenza; participation in the exhibition “Creators of Italian Fashion 1920-1980” at the Daimaru and Costume Museums of the Academy of Fashion and Costume, Osaka and Tokyo; participation in the “The Best Five” event, annually organized by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun and by WWD Japan, Tokyo; parade-night event in Piazza Santo Stefano, Bologna
1984: Event – “Gianfranco Ferré” fashion show, in the setting of Osaka Castle; participation in the exhibition “Il genio antipatico” at the Galoppatoio of Villa Borghese, Rome; participation in the “Alla Moda di Torino” Convention; event-fashion show at the “Modewoche”, Munich; project of a carpet for Sisal, exhibited at the exhibition “Italian design for the western carpet”, on the occasion of the Salone del Mobile, Milan; project for B & B Italia, to dress sofas and armchairs of the series “Gli abiti”, designed by Paolo Nava, Milan; costumes for the theater “Tamara”, Los Angeles and New York; creation of T-shirts for “T-show. History and new styles in the T-Shirt “, project realized by the Cotonificio Cantoni textile group, Legnano
1985: Participation in the “Italia. The Genius of Fashion”, New York; exhibition at the Museo Civico Medievale, Bologna; participation in the “RENart” project, a series of free and different interpretations of the Renault Supercinque model, with Alessandro Mendini, Mario Merz, Ugo Nespolo, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Paolo Portoghesi, Franco Maria Ricci and Ettore Sottsass, Milan
1986: Participation in “Italia: il Genio della Moda”, exhibition curated by Pia Soli, Milan; costumes for “This is the Arena, Maria Callas was born here”, a charity evening for aid to Third World countries, Verona; fashion show at Trinità dei Monti, with a selection of garments from the Gianfranco Ferré Alta Moda Fall / Winter collection 1986-87, Rome
1987: Event for the presentation of the “Gianfranco Ferré” Women’s Perfume in Greece at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens; event for the inauguration of the Gianfranco Ferré boutique, Rome; participation in the RAI television event, organized by the magazine “Moda” of Edizioni E.R.I. at the Gardens of Villa Reale, Milan; fashion show at the Yurakucho Asahi Hall on the occasion of the opening of the boutique in Sonnette Aoyama, Tokyo
1988: Participation in the “Tartan” exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; participation in the “Moda Italia” exhibition organized in collaboration with ICE, New York; participation in “Progetto Uomo ’88” organized by Saga Furs and dedicated to men’s fur, Milan
1989: Participation – the only fashion designer – at “Italian Manifesto”, 39th International Design Conference, Aspen; lecture: “The path of the project”; creation of garments for “Lana Gatto” collection A / W 89-90 at Pitti Filati, Florence; participation in the “La Moda Italiana for the Floriani Foundation” event with Gianfranco Ferré Fourrures, Milan; sponsorship of the project of the European School of Oncology aimed at creating the Foundation of the same School, aimed at financing its activities, Milan; participation in the “La Moda Italiana for the Floriani Foundation” event with Gianfranco Ferré Fourrures, Venice; charity event in favor of the Italian Association for Cancer Research at Palazzo Butera, Palermo
90’s
Gianfranco Ferre 1990
1990: Creation of a new mask for the Ambrosian Carnival proposed in the exhibition at Palazzo Dugnani, Milan; participation in “The Art of Fashion”, Diana Vreeland Fund for Exhibitions of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; participation in the exhibition “Moments of Italian design in industry and fashion”, Seoul; participation in the “Florence dreams” event in the Loggia of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence; participation in the “Italia ’90” fashion show, with clothes inspired by Europe, at the San Siro Stadium, Milan; creation of mink garments for the American Legend show, Palazzo della Ragione, Milan; event-fashion show for “Association of Total Fashion”, Tokyo
1991: Participation in the International Textile Forum, organized by the Ratti Foundation, Como; lecture: “Stilism and creativity before the challenges of the new millennium”; charity evening in favor of ANLAIDS – Lombarda section with Gianfranco Ferré fashion show and Gino Paoli concert, Galleria Theater, Legnano; fashion show at the opening of the Gianfranco Ferré boutique in Washington D.C
1992: Participation in the first “Convivio”, as promoter with Armani, Valentino and Versace, Milan; “Gianfranco Ferré” fashion show and launch of the “Ferré by Ferré”perfume at the Opéra Comique, Paris; event-show “Das Gesicht 92”, Berlin
1993: “Chic ’93” event, promoted by the China Tiangong Clothing Science & Technological Development Group, Beijing; “Gianfranco Ferré Uomo” fashion show at the Stazione Leopolda, Florence; guest of honor at the inauguration of the “Creative Haus“, Duesseldorf
1994: Heads exhibited in the exhibition “Japonism in Fashion” at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; participation in the Ravenna Festival, Ravenna; lecture: “Dreams and visions”; participation in “The Fashion Group International Night of Stars”: special tribute to Bernardine Morris, New York; participation in the Enka Viscose project “Creativity at the Opera”, Milan
1995: “AIDS Project Los Angeles” event-show at Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles; event-fashion show at the National Palace of Culture, Sofia; “Rédacteur en chef” of the special Christmas issue of “Le Point”, Paris; participation in the exhibition “Between Fashion and Design. Infinite line “at the Palazzo della Triennale, Milan; Studio 000.1 event by Ferré, New York; creation of a dress for the fashion show “Fashion’s world health to peace”, Caesarea / Israel; creation of a quilted stole for the project “A heart for a friend” by ANLAIDS, Milan
1996: Gieffeffe perfume launch event at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York and San Francisco; lecture: “Créateur and couturier experience”, Fashion Institure of Technology, New York; exhibition of drawings, Academy of Art College, San Francisco; participation in the Second International Forum on car style, Turin; lecture: “Design in Fashion”; participation in the first Fashion Biennial “Time and Fashion”, installations in the Cappelle Medicee, Florence; creation of a Christmasgateau exclusively for Lenôtre, Paris
1997: Sponsorship of the F.A.I. event al Castello di Masino “The elegance of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, historical clothes from the Masino Gallery of the Costume of Florence”; participation in the seminar of courses in “Theories and techniques of Architecture” at the Polytechnic, Milan; lecture: “Composition and Fashion”; “Ferré Week”, with a show at the “Sezon Theater”, Tokyo; exhibition “A white story”, Seibu Ikebukuro, Tokyo; lecture: “Designing the subject”, United Nation University, Tokyo; lecture: “The jewel between East and West. A path between design and fantasy “, Domus Academy, Milan; creation of clothes for Dario Fo, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and for his wife Franca Rame, Stockholm; creation of a sheepskin blouson for the charity event “21 designers rething shearling for benefit”, Paris; creation of a denim blouson for DIFFA – Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS “, Dallas
1998: Lecture: “Fashion in the Present, Fashion in the Future: the Values of Creativity” Association for Development in the Fashion Industry, University of Bologna, Bologna; participation in the final plenary session of IAF 1998, Palazzo dei Congressi, Florence; lecture: “The consumer at the center of the fashion designer’s strategy”; opening of the headquarters in Via Pontaccio 21, Milan; party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the “Gianfranco Ferré” label, Milan; “Immaginario” exhibition-labyrinth in via Pontaccio, Milan; fashion show and charity event in favor of British Red Cross, Banqueting House, Whitehall, London; lecture: “Designing the subject”, Central Saint Martin’s College of Arts & Design, London; participation in the “Intimare” exhibition with the collection “Gianfranco Ferré Underwear” Uomo e Donna, Bologna; fashion show of the GFF Donna Fall / Winter 1998-99 collection, Teatro Franco Parenti, Milan
1999: “F & F” project: packaging for the “Brunello da Montalcino Riserva 2000”, production by Marchesi Frescobaldi, Milan, Berlin, New York, Tokyo; event of Ideacomo, Villa d’Este, Cernobbio; exhibition “Fifteen years of partnership with Sàfilo”, via Via Pontaccio, Milan; costumes for the Biennale Danza created for Carla Fracci and Carolyn Carlsson, Venice; creation of a leather model for the sprinter Marion Jones for the “Tag Heuer” exhibition, Milan; participation as a guest of honor at “Donna sotto le stelle” at Trinità dei Monti, to celebrate 20 years of activity, Rome; creation of costumes for “Le ballet du cadre noir de Saumur” with the étoile Patrick Dupont at the Stade de France, Paris; participation in the “Furtherfantasy” photo exhibition organized by Vogue Italia at the Galleria Giò Marconi, Milan; participation in the exhibition “50 anos de mode italiana”organized by the National Chamber of Fashion Italy, curated by Fiorella Galgano, with the support of Italian and Brazilian authorities and cultural institutions in several cities of the country.
Early 2000s
2000: Participation in the “Le Teddies de l’an 2000” project in favor of British Red Cross, Montecarlo; donation of clothes and accessories from the historical archive Gianfranco Ferré to the Costume Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, Florence; exhibition “Other Emotions”: garments donated to the Costume Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, in an exhibition by Margherita Palli, Florence; donation of archive items to the Fashion Institute of Technology, exhibited at the exhibition “The Corset Fashioning The Body” at the F.I.T. New York; creation of personalized labels for Evian mineral water bottles at Milano Moda Donna AI 2000/01; participation in the “Momi Intimo Designers” event, Fiera Milano
2001: Heads exhibited at the exhibition “Uniform. Order and disorder”at the Stazione Leopolda, Florence; guest of honor at the “Shanghai International Fashion Culture Festival”, Shanghai; lecture: “Creativity and working method”, Fashion Institute, Dong Hua University, Shanghai; event-fashion show at the Museum of Art History, Vienna; participation in the exhibition “Silk. The twentieth century in Como “, organized by the Antonio Ratti Foundation in Villa Olmo, Como; participation in the exhibition “The Entertainers. The power of accessories” at the Stazione Leopolda, Florence; participation in the “Frock and Roll” fashion charity event, organized by Naomi Campbell and Harvey Goldsmith in favor of the “Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund”, together with Alexander Mc Queen, Barcelona; dresses from different collections selected by Luca Ronconi for the “Phoenix” show by Marina Cvetaeva, Piccolo Teatro, Milan; “Gianfranco Ferré Style for men” event in collaboration with Esquire USA, with a still-life display of garments and accessories from the different lines by Man designer, New York
2002 Fall/Winter Collection
2002: “The Best of Gianfranco Ferré” fashion show at the headquarters via Pontaccio, Milan; joining Poste Italiane’s initiative: series of “Design Italiano Alta Moda” stamps, Milan
2003: “Gianfranco Ferré” fashion show-run at the Jeau de Paume Museum, Paris; event for the opening of the spa “E’SPA Gianfranco Ferré” in the renovated boutique in via Sant’Andrea, Milan; event-fashion show with the direction of Asia Argento for the debut of the GF FERRE ‘Donna e Uomo line at Superstudio +, Milan; event-parade of garments inspired by the female characters of opera, State Opera, Vienna; garments exhibited at the Musée des Tissus in the “50 and de mode Italian” exhibition, Lyon; leaders exhibited at the exhibition “Noches Italianas: trajes de excepcion para mujeres extraordinarias” (1950-1990) “hosted in museums in Latin America; guest of “The Monday of Milanese friends” at the Center Culturel Français, Milan; lecture: “The tailor of the two cities”; participation in the “GenovanversaeviceversA” exhibition, promoted by the Modemuseum, with clothes, fabrics and accessories, Antwerp; dresses from different collections selected by Luca Ronconi for the show “Peccato sia sia un sgualdrina” by John Ford on stage at the Piccolo Teatro, Milan; participation in the “Pigotte d’Autore” project, with a charity auction for Unicef, Reggio Emilia; participation as guest of honor at the inauguration of the exhibition “I mantelli delle Castellane” at the headquarters of the Banca di Legnano; event – “Oiseaux d’art” exhibition with an exhibition of the works of the artist Gregory Morizeau in the Gianfranco Ferré boutique in Milan; presentation dinner of the “Essence d’Eau” Women’s perfume in the Gianfranco Ferré offices, Milan; creation of representation seals for football club FC Bayern Muenche
2004 Fall/Winter Collection
2004: Protagonist and guest of honor of the “Life Ball” event-show, 2004, Vienna; items exhibited at the “Excess” exhibition at the Stazione Leopolda, Florence; participation in the TV event “La notte delle stelle” at the Teatro Ariston, Sanremo; participation in the “La mode dessine l’espoir” project, at the invitation of the “Dessine l’espoir” association and under the patronage of the French Ministry of Culture, Paris; supply of archival clothing as costumes for “Peccato alle puttana” by John Ford, directed by Luca Ronconi for the Piccolo Teatro, Milan; opening event of the Gianfranco Ferré boutique on Madison Avenue, followed by dinner at “Le Grenouille”, New York City; participation in the “Carousel Ball of Hope’s Toy Car” solidarity project promoted by Mercedes Benz for the Children’s Diabetes Foundation, Los Angeles; participation in the fashion event organized by Ferrari and the Italian National Chamber of Fashion, Shanghai
2005: Creation of flight and ground personnel uniforms for Korean Air, Seoul; participation in the “Una notte a Roma” television event in Piazza Navona, Rome; fashion show-event for “Fashion in Motion”, Victoria & Albert Museum, London; guest of honor of “Festa Italiana”, Mumbai and New Delhi; creation of uniforms for the hostesses of “Première Vision”, Milan; participation in the “West looks East” solidarity show-event, Washington; participation in the exhibition “The thread becomes history”, organized in the Costume Gallery at Palazzo Pitti on the occasion of the thirty years of Lineapiù, Florence; “stamp” creation for the ten years of “Io Donna”, Milan; launch of the “Gianfranco Ferré Special Order” project: creation of evening garments in different sizes and colors from those presented on the catwalk for individual clients, Milan
2006: Event-fashion show for the inauguration of the Boscolo Hotel in the historic building of the New York Café, Budapest; exhibition “MEx32”, with the creation of 32 T-shirts inspired by the countries participating in the World Soccer Championships, proposed in the Gianfranco Ferré, Florence and Milan boutiques; participation in the “Human Game” exhibition at the Stazione Leopolda, Florence; participation in the “Genio y Figura” exhibition at the Museo del Traje, Madrid; participation in the “Passion for fashion” TV show-event at the Manoel Island, Valletta; participation in “Luxury Conference 2006” organized by the International Herald Tribune at the Sheraton Hotel, Istanbul; lecture: “Exotic inspirations”; solidarity event in favor of the Francesca Nava Foundation: a show by René Fleming at the Teatro alla Scala and a gala dinner at the Gianfranco Ferré headquarters in honor of the soprano, Milan
2007: Sponsorship of the restoration of the painting “Adamo crying Abel” by Johan Karl Loth, exhibited at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence; Donna AI 2007/2008 fashion show: the rock singer Skin wears a top studded with authentic diamonds, at the fashion show follows a live concert at the headquarters in Via Pontaccio, Milan; TV show-event at the Lufti Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Center on the occasion of the first edition of the “Fashion TV Turkey Awards”, Istanbul; lecture: “The forms of emotions. Shaping emotions” at the Faculty of Architecture, Politecnico, Milan; creation of a wedding ring for the exhibition “Eternal Platinum – The ultimate Symbol of Love”, hosted at the Palazzo della Triennale, Milan; October: Participation in the exhibition “Contro Moda. The contemporary fashion of the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art”, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence
Awards and Recognitions
70s / 80s
1976: July, Capri: “Tiberio d’oro”, prize of “MareModa Capri”
1982: October, Milan: “Golden Eye” for the best women’s collection P / E1983
1983: March, Milan: “Golden Eye” for the best women’s collection A / W 83-84; November, Tokyo: “The Best Five”, recognition of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun and WWD Japan
1984: September, Genoa: recognition of the Chamber of Commerce; October, Milan: “Occhio d’oro” for the best women’s spring / summer collection in 1985; November, Hollywood: Recognition for the costumes of the theatrical piece “Tamara”
1985: March, Munich: “Modepreis”, as the best fashion designer of the year for women’s fashion; April, Bologna: Recognition of the Municipality; May, Mantova: recognition of the “Gazzetta di Mantova”, as part of the “Fashion Awards” event; June, New York: “Cutty Sark Men’s Fashion Award”, as the best fashion designer of the year for men’s fashion; September, Varese, Golf Club: Cup for participation in the collection of vintage bouts and Haute Couture; December, Milan, Palazzo Marino: “Ambrogino d’Oro”, medal of civic merit of the City of Milan
1986: January, Rome, Palazzo del Quirinale: honor of “Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic”, by the President of the Republic Sen. Francesco Cossiga; March, Milan: “Golden Eye” award for the best women’s collection A / W 86-87; May, Bologna: plate of “Linea Pelle” to recognize the creative commitment; May, Palermo: AIRC recognition from the City of Palermo; November, Legnano: “Tessera d’Oro” of the Legnanese Family
1987: arzo, Milan: “Occhio d’oro” for the best women’s collection A / W 87-88; May, Tokyo: plate of the “Association of Total Fashion”; November, Legnano: recognition of the Legnano Lions Club and Legnano Carroccio Lions Club in joint session; Turin: “Cavour d’Argento” award. City of Turin”
1988: April, Busto Arsizio: Rotary Professional Award
1989: May, Milan: “Telegatto” Prize, among others awarded, Giulio Andreotti and Enzo Biagi; July, Paris, Palais Galliera Gardens: “Dé d’or” after the first Haute Couture collection for Christian Dior, as the best couturier of the season; July, Rome: special recognition as a fashion character in 1989, by the Associazione di via Borgognona; September, Ischia: “Modaischia 1989” award; November, Legnano: certificate of civic merit of the City of Legnano; December, Milan: “Occhio d’oro” which consecrates the “signature of the year of Italian fashion”; December, Milan nominates “Milanese of the Year” from the “Meneghina Family”
90’s
Vogue Sep 1991 AD Featuring Aly Dunne Photographed by Gianpaolo Barbieri
1990: March, Milan: “The great protagonists”, prize of the “Italian Fur Association”; June, Milan: recognition for participation in Italy ’90; October, Florence Palazzo Vecchio: “Lorenzo the Magnificent”, award of the “Medicean International Academy”
1991: prile, Legnano: recognition of the Busto Arsizio Cisalpino Lions Club; June, Florence, Palazzo Vecchio: “Il Fiorino d’oro” award, from the City of Florence; June, Los Angeles: Recognition of the County of Los Angeles and Music Center of the County of Los Angeles
1992: September, Mexico D.F .: “El sol de oro”, recognition of the Circulo Nacional de Periodistas as “Creador de la elegancia y distinction en European fashion”; December, Vienna: “Diva-Wollsiegel”, IWS award in collaboration with the magazine “Diva”
1993: May, Beijing: appointment to “Senior Adviser” from the “China Tiangong Clothing Science & Technological Development Group and National Garments Research”; official meeting with the President of the People’s Republic of China, Jan Zemin, in the Forbidden City; June, Florence, Palazzo Vecchio: “Pitti Immagine Uomo”, special prize of Pitti Immagine; November, Milan: “Paul Harris Fellow”, Rotary International Rotary Foundation Award
1994: May, Baveno: Lions Club “recognition” plaque; September, New York: “The Fashion Group International” award; November, Campione d’Italia: “Maschera d’oro”, from the Mayor of the City of Campione
1995: May, Los Angeles.Century Plaza: “Crystal Apple Award” special award of the “California Fashion Industry Friends of Aids Project Los Angeles”; November, Milan: “Circolo degli Incontri” plaque, awarded annually to Milanese personalities distinguished in the field of Art and Culture
1996: September, New York and San Francisco: recognition for the participation in the special events Saks Fifth Avenue dedicated to Gianfranco Ferré; October, Milan: “Masters of Linen” special prize of the “European Confederation of Linen and Hemp”
1997: May, Legnano: “Always Licenses” award from the city’s State Scientific Liceo
1999: March, Como, Palazzo Cernezzi: delivery of the City of Como’s keys by the Mayor; March, Como, Villa’D’este “Certificate of Ideacomo” in recognition of his talent and his culture; March, Milan: “Fur Fashion Award – special 50 years” special prize of the “Italian Fur Association”; July, Rome: award of the “National Chamber of Italian Fashion” for twenty years of activity, during the event “Woman under the stars”
Early 2000s
2000: November, Legnano: card of the “Legnanese Family” “Member in the fiftieth year”
2001: April, Shanghai: appointment to “Senior Adviser of Garment Arts” by the Mayor of the City of Shanghai; May, Legnano: Grand Priory of the Contrada della Flora
2002: June, Milan: frieze from the Municipality of Milan
2003: November, Düsseldorf: “Kinder in Not”, UNESCO special prize
Gianfranco Ferre Receiving Awards 2004
2004: March, Berlin, “Star Diamond Award” of “American Academy of Hospitality Sciences” for E’SPA at Gianfranco Ferré; April, Milan: “Silver lady”, prize of the “Association of Friends of the Poldi Pezzoli Museum” awarded to “Men and Women Who Make Great Milan”; September, Sanremo: recognition for participation in “Sanremo Fashion”; September, Milan: career award from “Chi è Chi del giornalismo e della moda”
2005: February, Milan, Teatro alla Scala: “Sigillo Longobardo”, from the Lombardy Regional Council
2006: July, Milan: “Certificate of Appreciation” by the Lions District 108Ib1
2007: March, Milan: appointment as President of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts
The Gianfranco Ferré Foundation was established in February 2008 with the aim of preserving, organizing and making available to the public – first and foremost in digital archive form – the patrimony of materials that document the designer’s professional activity. It also has the goal of promoting, pursuing and carrying out projects that relate to the Gianfranco Ferré philosophy and culture of design, to the maestro’s unique idea of fashion and exquisite aesthetic sensitivity.
The Foundation’s first objective is the creation of an archive/museum that houses everything saved and kept during the span of Gianfranco Ferré’s career. This task entails making an inventory of many different types of materials: photographs, sketches and drawings, film and video footage, press reviews, magazines, press releases, as well as the architect-designer’s own writings (talks, lectures, notes). All then go into the databank for easy access both on site and via web.
The database, which is continually being updated and added to, presently contains more than 80,000 items. They are organized on the basis of a straightforward and capillary system, specifically in terms of both subject matter and chronological.
The creation of an archive of this nature offers people from various domains of life the chance to examine and experience Gianfranco Ferré’s fashion work in an effective and hands-on way. Students, scholars, professionals – anyone with a concrete connection to and/or interest in the fields of modern fashion and pure design – may want to take advantage of this valuable opportunity.
The existence of a similar archive facilitates a wide range of initiatives: publication of books on specific subjetcs, organization of exhibitions, educational activities for young people, promotion of in-depth study programs in cooperation with universities and other educational institutions, hosting of talks, on-site visits, as well as participation in conferences or events and meetings focused on topics connected to Gianfranco Ferré’s work and/or, more in general, to contemporary fashion and aesthetics.
The Foundation is responsible for the care and management of the vestimentary archive, which includes about 3,000 pieces of clothing and accessories from the Gianfranco Ferré Women’s, Men’s and Haute Couture’s collections.
The Gianfranco Ferré Foundation Headquarters
Fondazione Gianfranco Ferré Headquarters
Sunlight streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows: this may be what strikes us most upon entering the headquarters of the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation located at the “Tortona 37” complex in the heart of Milan’s new fashion and design district.
The 600-sqm split-level office features a ground floor plus two ample intermediate ones where all in all a primarily rational use of space meets a distinct sense of elegance and refinement. Centering on the idea of multi functionality, the headquarters are divided in work and archive areas, as well as in conference and lecture rooms able to accommodate the exhibition of clothes and accessories.
There are also workstations where the general public may access (both hands-on and by computer) the Foundation’s remarkable patrimony of drawings, photographs, videos, texts – complete with vast library containing decades of major fashion, design and lifestyle magazines from around the globe.
The configuration and aesthetic definition of the headquarters award the Foundation a genuine Ferré feel. This comes through in various aspects, from the clean and clearly architectonic volumes, impressively high ceilings, all the way to the specific chromatic attributes: floors made from matte black resin, white walls offset by lacquer red parts, surfaces lined with sheet iron. As for the actual furnishings, they include large bookcases in white lacquered wood framed by durmast oak support elements, plus tables and capacious chests of drawers in bronzetone metal with black frosted glass top.
The interior décor is the work of Architect Franco Raggi, university classmate and close friend of Gianfranco Ferré. He is the same architect who cooperated with Ferré in designing other of the fashion maestro’s offices, the headquarters on Via Pontaccio in particular.
Many other things infuse the place with the Gianfranco Ferré style and above all with the designer’s rich and complex personality. First and foremost, the pieces he designed himself: the big sheet iron table from his private office, the chaise longue in brown ponyskin, the Biedermeier armchairs with lacquered lizard upholstery…
Reminders of Gianfranco Ferré are everywhere at the Foundation. There are the creations from his many collections, the souvenirs from his global travels, the gifts from friends and assistants well aware of his love of collecting. Examples? The magnificent Chinese brazier-vase in embossed bronze; the Japanese Kendo armor set; a curious nautical meter stick; Grégory Morizeau’s and Fabius Tita’s singular bird figures in recycled industrial materials; the easel with Ferré ever since his early days on Via Conservatorio. Not to mention all the minor/major objects studding and making special the designer’s diverse work and home surroundings: hats and helmets from all periods of history and corners of the globe, bracelets (some authentic pieces of sculpture), works of art by personal friends and artists (among others, the pinewood “profile” by Ceroli). And then contemporary design items such as the art work by Urano Palma and the chairs, from the “Harp Chair” by Jorgen Hovelskow to the ones by Tom Dixon and Ron Arad until Franco Raggi’s own signature “Metamorfosi 3” chaise longue.
“Tortona 37” – where the Ferré Foundation headquarters are located – is a mixed-use architectural complex designed by Matteo Thun. It consists of five buildings arranged around a garden-courtyard with trees in the center. The project is part of a major low-environmental impact urban revitalization process featuring the use of energy-saving technologies (geothermal air conditioning, radiant panel heating) and the accurate definition of the exterior walls.
Interior design Franco Raggi, with the collaboration of Karim Contarino
Lighting: XAL. Xenon Architectural Lighting
Systems furniture ZEUS
Treated metal surfaces AMIMETAL
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Exhibitions
February 1, 2014 – June 15, 2014: “La camicia bianca secondo me” – Museo del Tessuto, Prato
“The White Shirt According To Me. Gianfranco Ferré” exhibition was devoted to one of the great fashion talents of the modern age. Ideated to focus attention on the designer’s exquisite sartorial poetics, this exhibition co-organized by the Prato Textile Museum Foundation and the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation and curated by Daniela Degl’Innocenti guides the visitor on a unique journey of discovery. Point of arrival: a deep understanding of the white shirt, true paradigm of the Ferré style, thanks to an itinerary that on multiple levels highlights a vision remarkably rich in innovative design elements and enthralling creative interpretations.
A constant presence throughout his career, the white shirt became for the designer in the “lexicon of contemporary elegance” a supreme “hallmark” of his style.
Aiming to give force to the figurative languages intrinsic to Ferré’s imaginative rethinking of the shirt, the exhibition plays evocatively with an impressive array of corollary materials: sketches and drawings, technical details, photographs, advertising and editorial images, videos and installations.
The itinerary begins with a system of hanging fabric screens across which flash giant reproductions of autographed Ferré fashion drawings. All perfect expressions of his creative vision, they serve to introduce the visitor to the universe immanent to every distinct design project.
The initial room reveals principles of construction and novel architectural elements through large photographic installations (unprecedented x-ray simulations) that offer a fascinating poetic/tech slant on a selection of shirts, reasserting for each the structural shape and material substance by heightening the impact of layers and textures.
The airy lightness of this immensely engaging language derives from technical research conducted jointly with the Workshop of Semi-Precious Stones in Florence and then brought to fruition by Florentine photographer Leonardo Salvini. Here it marks the first time a similar photographic expressiveness adds interpretative depth to a fashion exhibition.
Next comes the fulcrum of the exhibition. There they are, in the center of the main room: twenty-seven white shirts, a stunning sequence of sartorial masterpieces, bearing silent witness to twenty years of absolutely ingenious and peerless creativity.
In chronological order, the shirts are keenly swathed in light so that they may assume varying tones of brilliant whiteness and find in shadow areas the ideal counterpoint for capturing a plastic effect. Sculpture style.
Taffeta, crepe de chine, organza, satin, tulle, cottons and silks, mechanical embroidery and lace, hand stitching, components macro and micro interact in a magnificent crescendo of virtuosity and equilibrium.
Accompanying the shirts are many pertinent materials on loan from the Ferré Foundation Archive. Arranged along the sides of the room, they include technical drawings, catwalk exit sketches, advertising and editorial images, shots by world-class photographers. The original drawings are particularly interesting, for they illustrate the designer’s amazing ability to define the primogenital idea behind each creation – silhouettes, volumes, details, fabric weights and textures – in a few sharp lines. Quick, sure, succinct. Flawless.
In the final part of the exhibition a captivating presentation of video footage from the most important fashion shows (1978 to 2007) makes the shirts on display come alive. Namely, in the studied gestures and elegant motions of the runway models the shirts embody once again the pure sensibility, elegance and refinement emblematic of Gianfranco Ferré’s poetic universe.
The exhibition catalog, a Skira publication under the masterly art direction of Luca Stoppini, so entailing an inventive use of fresh shots of the shirts, is an outstanding book that opens with greetings from Andrea Cavicchi and Alberto Ferré, respective presidents of the two Foundations.
Immediately following is an explanation of the motivations behind the exhibition, written by Filippo Guarini and Rita Airaghi. Subsequently the catalog discusses the exhibition’s themes through both an introductory essay by Daniela Degl’Innocenti and a series of articles where major figures from the realms of style, architecture and design, Quirino Conti, Anna Maria Castro, Margherita Palli, Daniela Puppa, Franco Raggi, talk in depth about the creative vision of the great architect of Italian fashion. Alessandra Arezzi Boza’s thoughts on the meaning of heritage in Ferré Foundation activities, plus some words on the Prato Textile Museum and its history, conclude the book.
From February to June “The White Shirt According To Me. Gianfranco Ferré” will also feature an exciting calendar of exhibition-inspired events and collateral activities, as well as didactic programs expressly for fashion students and/or for students from schools in the spheres of design, architecture and applied arts.
Students will have the opportunity to explore the exhibition contents thanks also to special multimedia tools and to workshops on Ferré’s extraordinary design vision and methodology. The latter will involve a profound analysis of key elements of his style.
In addition to all types of practical info and exhaustive press kits, detailed information on these various events, activities and programs will be available at ferre.museodeltessuto.it, official website for the exhibition complete with dedicated social network links.
March 10, 2015 – April 4, 2015: “La camicia bianca secondo me. Gianfranco Ferré” – Palazzo Reale, Sala delle Cariatidi, Milano
“Talking about my white blouse is all too easy. It’s all too easy to declare a love that covers the span of my creative path. A hallmark – perhaps the ultimate signature – of my style, which enfolds a constant pursuit of innovation and a no less unfailing love of tradition.
A combination of tradition and innovation is what originally triggered the Ferré white shirt, set the story in motion. Tradition in the form of the men’s shirt, ever-present and encoded element of the wardrobe. Which tickled my fancy for invention, incited my propensity for rethinking the tenets of elegance and style in an interplay of pure fantasy and contemporary design. Read with sense of glamour and poetry, freedom and energy, the formal and quasi-immutable white shirt took on an infinity of identities, a multiplicity of inflections. To the point of becoming, I believe, a must of modern-day femininity…
In the lexicon of contemporary elegance, I like to think that the white blouse is a universal term every woman can ‘pronounce’ the way she prefers…”
This process always entails a keen rethinking of shapes. The white blouse is never the same yet always unmistakable. It may be light and floaty, flawlessly severe (if the mannish cut remains), as sumptuously enveloping as a cloud, as skinny and snug as a bodysuit. Some parts, primarily collar and cuffs, can become emphatic; others expressly lose ‘force’ and may even disppear (back, shoulders, sleeves). It billows delicately with every motion, almost free of gravity.
It frames the face like a fabulous corolla. It sculpts the body in a slick second-skin mode. It is the eclectic interpreter of all types of materials: sheer organza, crisp taffeta, glossy satin, duchesse, poplin, chiffon, georgette, too…” – From the notes of Gianfranco Ferré
The exhibition, promoted by the City of Milan, Department for Work Policy, Fashion and Design and Department for Culture, is organized and produced by Palazzo Reale and the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation jointly with the Prato Textile Museum. It is edited by Daniela Degl’Innocenti and devoted to the talent of one of the most illustrious names of the international fashion of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
“The exhibition is a tribute of the city to a great player of the Italian fashion and his unique style, which has always been far away from excesses, connecting creativity to precise and firm references in forms, materials and colors”, so the Councillor for Work Policy, Fashion and Design, Cristina Tajani, who continues: “An exhibition useful especially to the many young people who are taking their first steps in the fashion world and can learn a real lesson in style and creativity in order to continue the great tradition of the Made in Italy”.
“Hosting this exhibition, Milan pays tribute to one of the symbol designers of the Italian and Milanese fashion: Gianfranco Ferré”, declares the Culture Councillor Filippo Del Corno, who underlines: “In the gorgeous Sala delle Cariatidi of the Palazzo Reale, the exhibition with a plenty of preparatory drawings, sketches, photographs, sartorial looks is focused on the white shirt, a proper icon of the Ferré’s style. An exhibition devoted to a great master of fashion, who right in Milan has developed the creativity and talent that made his style famous throughout the world”.
Conceived to showcase the creative and sartorial poetics of Gianfranco Ferré’s work, the exhibition uses various art forms to guide the visitor on a discovery of the white shirt – authentic paradigm of his style – highlighting the most innovative design elements and deeply fascinating interpretations. A constant presence and major theme throughout Ferré’s career, the white shirt became for the designer a “hallmark of my style” and a “contemporary lexicon of elegance”.
The shirt is element of continuity and item elected to an icon of style, design culture and creativity of Gianfranco Ferré, “architect of fashion” and undisputed protagonist of Made in Italy. On this garment the author focuses the aptitude to transform and innovate the language and aesthetics of fashion.
Aiming to give force to the different figurative languages inherent to Ferré’s work in examining, taking apart and rethinking the shirt, the exhibition itinerary at once plays with suggestions and the valorization of different elements, making the most of various materials as a corollary to the creations put stunningly on a manikin. They include drawings, technical details, sketches, photographs, advertising and editorial images and installations. The focus is on twenty-seven shirts – an army of sartorial masterpieces that exemplify about twenty years of Ferré’s creative (Ready to Wear collections 1982-2006).
Setting the exhibition in motion is an initial passageway where giant images of Ferré’s autographed drawings are projected onto swathes of tulle. This enables the visitor to grasp instances of his remarkable creative vision while getting a first hint of the shirts on display.
The main section of the exhibition is in the great Sala delle Cariatidi, dominated by the shirts as sculptures bathed in light. The idea is to bring out the full beauty of the shades of white, the interplay of light and shadow, thereby attaining an evocative plastic effect. Taffeta, crêpe de chine, organza, satin, tulle, cottons and silks, mechanical embroidery, lace, hand stitching, macro and micro decors follow one another in a crescendo of pure mastery and counterpoise.
Along the sides of the hall various materials from the Ferré Foundation Archives are displayed. The original drawings spark particular interest, for they illustrate the designer’s amazing ability to synthesize all the elements intrinsic to creating every shirt – silhouettes, volumes, detailing, fabric weight and texture – which he describes in his distinctive, elegant script.
On the ceiling there is a series of exquisitely oneiric images. They are photographic projections (x ray simulations) which capture the shirts from an eloquenty technical perspective, recreating each one’s structural and physical framework while clearly showing layers and textures, yet above all imbuing the designs with a unique delicacy and a poetic lightness.
Completing the itinerary, the images shot by Luca Stoppini underscore again how a sense of levity and transparency are a key to understanding the whole project.
Published by Skira, a catalog under the artistic direction of Luca Stoppini, accompanies the exhibition. The book explores diverse topics of relevance, starting with an introductory essay by Daniela Degl’Innocenti and then proceeding with thought-provoking contributions by prominent figures in the realms of Italian style, fashion and architecture. One by one, Quirino Conti, Anna Maria Stillo Castro, Margherita Palli, Daniela Puppa and Franco Raggi offer valuable insights into the creative vision of the great architect of fashion. A piece by Alessandra Arezzi Boza on the meaning of the heritage concept in the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation activities concludes the catalog.
November 4, 2015 – March 6, 2016: “The white shirt according to me. Gianfranco Ferré” – Phoenix Art Museum, Steele Gallery
“Ferré was part of a pivotal generation of Italian designers that included Gianni Versace and Giorgio Armani. Their designs solidified the importance of Italian fashion internationally during the late 1970s. We are excited to bring Ferre’s vision and history to the Valley directly from the archives in Milan.” – Dennita Sewell, Curator of Fashion Design, Phoenix Art Museum.
From next November 4 to March 6 2016 the Phoenix Art Museum in Arizona, the most prestigious institution of the entire South West of the United States which celebrates its fifty anniversary of activity, will host in the Steel Gallery the exhibition dedicated to the Gianfranco Ferré’s iconic garment, conceived in cooperation with the Museo del Tessuto di Prato and already presented last March in Milan’s Palazzo Reale.
At the same time, a different area of the space, the Ellman Fashion Design Gallery, will be the setting for a story of the creative journey of Gianfranco Ferré : this exhibition brings together images and more than 100 sketches, both illustrative and technical along with examples of how the sketches are translated into three-dimensional garments, exposed on mannequins, from the Haute Couture and Ready to Wear collections.
November 4, 2015 – March 6, 2016: Gianfranco Ferré Designs” – Phoenix Art Museum, Ellman Gallery
A companion exhibition, Gianfranco Ferré Designs, will also be on view in Phoenix Art Museum’s Ellman Fashion Design Gallery. This complementary exhibit features over 100 of Ferré’s illustration and photographs paired with 8 striking ensembles that exemplify Gianfranco Ferré’s iconic design style. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to explore a world renowned designer’s creative process from concept to sketch to finished product.
August 30, 2016 – January 15, 2017: “Gianfranco Ferré e Maria Luigia: Inattese assonanze” – Palazzo del Governatore, Parma
It is an honor that the Gianfranco Ferré style plays a starring role in a singularly important exhibition part of the bicentennial celebrations marking the arrival in Parma of Austrian archduchess Marie Louise of the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine, former Empress of the French who became the Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla. Gianfranco Ferré always had a deep appreciation for and interest in women of power: great women in history, from Maria Theresa of Austria to Catherine of Russia, from Elizabeth the Great to Christina of Sweden. Surely, the “Good Duchess” — as long ago her adoring subjects and now the ever-reverent citizens of Parma called/call her — enjoys a solid place among the female characters who so keenly sparked the designer’s fancy during his lifetime.
Nevertheless, it would be misleading to say that Marie Louise numbered specifically among the women who populated Gianfranco Ferré’s ideal landscape. His collections make continual reference to the fashions of past eras, therefore also to the Empire Style. But that in no way explains the presence of Ferré’s designs on display in Parma. The actual reasons and respective dynamics are of quite a different nature. In particular, they reflect the logic that the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation follows in managing the full scope of the designer’s creative legacy, starting with the magnificent fashions which in addition to attentive conservation and cultural diffusion are a constant object of study, research and interpretative scrutiny.
The analysis of this patrimony, multifaceted and heterogeneous as to both contents and inspirations/influences, enables the Foundation to deal with it according to a flexible, subtly unfolding logic. Thanks to which it’s not impossible (on the contrary, proves very natural) to draw from what Ferré created ever new and different impressions able to surprise and often amaze even people who witnessed the birth, growth and development of the Ferré universe.
Along with the sensibilities we have acquired over the years, working every day with the clothes and relative documentary materials affords us the ability to keep discovering unexpected contents — or, more pertinently, unexpected ways of evaluating and valorizing them. They are contents which, not uncommonly, have lain hidden in the cracks of a fabulously rich aesthetic horizon where, by contrast, other more evident and immediate elements have predominated.
With this quietly in mind, the Foundation made every effort to divine assonances with the world of Marie Louise of Parma, her tastes and passions. They are assonances we enjoy defining unexpected. Also, a keen sense of analysis and a propensity for research enfold the distinct use of philological methodologies and the clear aspiration for unusual perspectives equally intrinsic to the message behind the Gianfranco Ferré style.
We are talking about a woman who grew up according to the strict yet substantially bourgeois principles of the royal court of Vienna, not at all taught how to govern a vast territory. All the same, the “Good Duchess” — more out of feminine pragmatism than due to political training — turned her duchy into a happy place during the darkest years of the Restoration period. An enlightened woman, she also took an interest in social matters, so introducing Parma and surrounding areas to a new era and to the world.
Essentially, this is another reason why the at once methodological and imaginative process of discovering in the designer’s collections probable liaisons with Marie Louise’s tastes and passions came easily to the Foundation.
We loved thinking of her as a contemporary figure. Better still, we loved discerning the virtual points of contact between her and the Gianfranco Ferré style. All very much in the spirit of today. – Rita Airagi, Director of the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation
About the exhibition:
The pure fashion genius of Gianfranco Ferré and the photographic artistry of Michel Comte identify, respectively, two exhibitions part of the bicentennial celebrations marking the arrival in Parma, of Marie Louise of the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine, Austrian archduchess who ruled as Empress of the French as the Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla.
“Ferre and Comte DETTAGLI. Two Great Fashion/Art Expressionists Delve Into Details” — a project ideated by Alberto Nodolini and produced by Ankamoki — will grace the halls of the first and second floors of Palazzo del Governatore in Parma from September 30, 2016 to January 15, 2017.
The first floor will host “Gianfranco Ferré and Marie Louise: Unexpected Assonances”, an exhibit curated by Gloria Bianchini and Alberto Nodolini in collaborations with the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation, while the second will exclusively feature Michel Comte’s installations in the “Neoclassic” show curated by Jens Remes in collaboration with Alberto Nodolini and Anna Tavani.
April 21, 2017 – June 18, 2017: “Gianfranco Ferré. Moda, un racconto nei disegni” – Centro Culturale Santa Maria della Pietà, Cremona
The why and wherefore of an exhibition on Gianfranco Ferré’s drawings
“For me drawing means jotting down on paper a spontaneous idea which I can then analyze, check, verify and finetune,reducing the basics to precise concise lines set on diagonals and parallels within geometric shapes and figures… as both a fashion designer and an architect I see fashion as a form of design…” (Gianfranco Ferré)
Gianfranco Ferré takes his method from his study of architecture, an art which pivots on and ensues from drawing, finds in drawing its means for giving shape to ideas, substance to distinct insights, a way to “set impressions down concretely in sketch form”; as such, drawing becomes “necessity and passion all in one, both arrival point in the dimension of reality and starting point for a design project.”
Thus the exhibition on Ferré’s drawings aims to retrace an intellectual path, the evolution of an inner world built on study and research, cultural and design synthesis, so that it will continue to play the role of testament and mental stimulus. In this particular context, drawing emerges significantly as an expression of freedom and rigor, creativity and method, yet at the same time a work tool, an everyday exercise, a mode of thought and a concrete approach. Above all, a work method.
Gianfranco Ferré’s drawings encapsulate his entire inner universe, for all while promptly defining the compass points of the human body – shoulders, waist, legs – they also capture the designer’s interests, passions and personality. And this is clear even to people who know little or nothing about fashion.
His constant inventiveness develops into signs on paper, into stunning silhouettes that with a few quick lines in soft-tip pen evoke a dynamic figure, often fixed in place thanks to pencil marks, sparkles and gold glints (possibly using tin foil or glitter dust), or that create images of clothes as splotches of color, calligraphic entanglements, explosive lines, or as the synthesis of a highly textural detail. What’s so striking about Ferré is the utter precision of details even in the simplest of sketches. -Rita Airagi, Director Gianfranco Ferré Foundation
A return to origins, connecting with creativity
Cremona is a magnificent city of music, violins and sound studies. But it is also hub of the territory from which the family of Gianfranco Ferré’s mother came. Now in a synergistic partnership with the municipal administration, the Foundation that bears the designer’s name plays the lead in a major return to roots that brings to the fore the strong affective bond Ferré always had with this corner of Lombardy.
It’s a return consisting of two parts: From April 21 to June 18, 2017, the exhibition “Gianfranco Ferré. Moda, un racconto nei disegni” (Gianfranco Ferré. Fashion, Drawings Tell the Story) presents more than a hundred autographed drawings by the designer. Arranged in groups on the basis of thematic and chromatic affinities, as well as a commonality of graphic elements, they take center stage at the extraordinary Santa Maria della Pietà Cultural Center in Piazza Giovanni XXIII – as ever, an important reference point in Italy for the display of graphic artworks (etchings, drawings, comics).
The exhibition also includes some of the designer’s fashion creations, which here become concrete transpositions in the form of shapes and volumes, materials and techniques, lace and embroidery of the design concepts and poetic impulses that Ferré expressed through his drawings.
On May 18th, in honor of Cremona and her celebrations for the 450th anniversary of the birth of Claudio Monteverdi, father of opera, a lecture on “Gianfranco Ferré. Moda, un racconto nella musica” (Gianfranco Ferré. Fashion, Music Tells the Story) will take place. All about the role soundtracks play during fashion shows, the lecture will focus on how – with the aid of outstanding sound designers – the designer succeeds in creating novel arrangements, bold mixes, surprising sounds of diverse origin. So spotlighting how music is a complementary component of the emotions sparked by clothes.
October 12, 2017 – February 19, 2018: “Gianfranco Ferré. Sotto un’altra luce: Gioielli e Ornamenti” – Palazzo Madama, Sala del Senato, Torino
From October 12, 2017, to February 19, 2018, the stately Hall of the Senate of Palazzo Madama in Turin will set the stage for the exhibition Gianfranco Ferré. Under Another Light: Jewels and Ornaments. Organized and produced jointly by the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation and the Turin Museums Foundation, the exhibition will present a world premiere of 200 jewel objects that cut across the entire creative narrative of the famous Italian fashion designer.
Ferré always had a passion for ornamentation – a passion inseparably linked to his fashion collections and significantly determined by an enthusiastic and often innovative approach never inferior to the one he took in designing clothes. As Francesca Alfano Miglietti, curator of the exhibition, underscores: “Ferré constructs a free zone within a personal realm of reference, elaborating every object in the wake of a system of general classification of concepts that become objects. And so we see lustrous stones, enameled metals, smooth shells, painted woods, Murano glasses, retro ceramics, Swarovski crystals, as well as wood and leather and iron and copper and bronze, follow one another along an enchanted horizon of pins, necklaces, belts, rings, bracelets, bangles. For Ferré the ornament is not the ‘lesser child’ of a precious jewel, but a concept of eternity that must represent the immanence of the present.”
The objects on display, created for fashion shows dating from 1980 to 2007, tell a story that is complementary to the clothing and relative accessories. Yet they are exhibited together with designs where it is precisely the jewel-material that invents and shapes the dress, becoming its substance and soul. In this case too, Gianfranco Ferré’s attention to materials is determinant, an essential part of his research.
The exhibition project – ideated by architect Franco Raggi – plays upon the contrast between the Hall of the Senate of Palazzo Madama, a place of immense architectural value, and the simple minimalist structures in iron and glass of the exhibition set-up. Thus highlighted is the imaginative beauty of the jewels designed by Ferré, which seem to soar in the semi-darkness.
Gianfranco Ferré’s “Jewels”: installation notes
The protagonists are two: on the one hand, the imposing Celebrations Hall in Palazzo Madama with its vertiginous height, masterly proportions and the austere minimalistic beauty that distinguishes the royal Savoy residences.
On the other hand, we have the Gianfranco “jewels”, which we prefer to characterize anthropologically as “ornaments,” and which are rich in material, formal rarities, aesthetic hazards, quotations, and even exotic and microscopic beauty.
A balanced installation between these two excesses that find its characteristic in an orderly series of six iron structures, such as cages in which fragile and strange creatures could be gathered, as body ornaments conceived for limbs, gestures and sinuous feminine curves.
The entire structure of the installation is covered by rust – an extreme exposition of material poverty. In this way, kept in the shade, the installation doesn’t want to be compared with neither the grandeur of the space nor the richness of the ornaments. All the six large structures lie on a technical platform, also a rusty one, that slightly elevates the temporary display of the objects. is also rusty. Gianfranco was fascinated by rust. I don’t know why. – Franco Raggi, Project Creator
Publications
Lessons of Fashion
Frisa Maria Luisa (a cura di), Gianfranco Ferré. Lezioni di Moda (Lessons of Fashion), Marsilio, Venezia 2009
Lessons in Fashion
Drawings
Airaghi Rita (a cura di), Gianfranco Ferré Disegni (Drawings), Skira, Milano 2010
From Gianfranco Ferré’s notes: “To me, drawing means throwing a spontaneous idea onto a piece of paper in order to analyze it, check it, assess it, clean it up, stripping the basic elements down to simple, precise lines, grafted onto diagonals and parallels and enclosed in geometrical forms and figures… as a designer and architect I conceive fashion as design…”
And it is from his training as an architect that Gianfranco Ferré draws his method, which finds its fulcrum, its starting point, his way of giving shape to ideas, concreteness to insight, in the drawing itself, “by stopping impressions and giving them an outline of consistency”: hence, the drawing as “necessity and passion together, a point of arrival in the dimension of reality, but at the same time a point of departure for a project.”
The aim of this book of Ferré’s drawings is therefore to piece together his intellectual development, the evolution of an inner world of research, interpretation, cultural and stylistic synthesis, that will survive as proof and as a source of reflection: drawing as the expression of freedom and rigor, creativity and method, but also a working tool, a daily exercise, a mindset, a concrete approach. But mostly a modus operandi.
If, in fact, for Ferré creating an outfit means starting a process of formal construction through the elaboration of simple geometrical forms into complex structures developed into their three dimensionality, the first stage required in this process of elaboration is the “definition” of the forms themselves by means of a bozzetto, a sketch.
Ferré’s relentless inventiveness becomes a sign, in his incredible silhouettes that with just a few strokes of the felt-tip pen bring to mind a dynamic figure, often fixed by the line of a pencil, by glimmers of light and gold rendered with foil or with a sprinkling of tiny diamonds, or create outfits resembling patches of color, the twists and turns of calligraphy, an explosion of lines, or the synthesis of a detail endowed with incredible textural impact. This is what we always find striking about Ferré: that even when the image he draws is just a sketch it reveals the precision of the detail.
His entire universe, then, is condensed in a quick sketch, usually made in pencil: just a few lines, precise, essential, a silhouette set down in its essential points—shoulders, waist, legs—that spread out on the sheet. They may only be a few lines, but the figure is already there.
Another thing that strikes us about Ferré is his ability to perceive things immediately. Not a lifeless outfit on a clothes-hanger but something that’s alive, with animation setting the pace and the movement. Just a few lines that in the very next phase develop according to the geometrical principles of a technical drawing, where the forms and details of an outfit are reduced and analyzed in elementary terms, where the sizes and proportions acquire definite contours, so that everything can be read and understood. Even by those who are not wholly at ease with fashion, but who do know how to appreciate the art of drawing and a mind’s inexhaustible creative capacity.
– Rita Biraghi, Director of the Fondazione Gianfranco Ferré
Gianfranco Ferre Drawings
The White Shirt
Airaghi Rita(a cura di), La camicia bianca secondo me. Gianfranco Ferré, Skira (White Shirt), Milano 2014
The creativity and the stylistic genius of Gianfranco Ferré illustrated through the icon leader of his sartorial poetry: the white shirt.
The exhibition “The white shirt in my opinion. Gianfranco Ferré “and the volume-catalog published by Skira with the artistic direction of Luca Stoppini are the result of the collaboration between the Prato Fabric Museum Foundation and the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation.
Conceived with the intent of highlighting the creative talent and design of the designer, the catalog and the exhibition offer different methods of analysis and reading of the Ferré white shirt, a constant presence that runs like a common thread throughout his career, defined by himself “sign of my style”, or lexicon “contemporary elegance”.
In perfect harmony with the concept of the exhibition, Skira’s book proposes a content articulated in multiple elements that aim at enhancing the white shirt and a vision of Gianfranco Ferré’s design applied to this must, highlighting the most constructive elements innovative and endless, fascinating interpretations.
The content of the catalog: contributions and insights from protagonists of Italian style, fashion and architecture; a compelling sequence of photographic images by Luca Stoppini and one by x-ray simulations by Leonardo Salvini, the result of a technical research developed in collaboration with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence; drawings and original sketches by Gianfranco Ferré and photos of the catwalk. An integral part of the volume are the 27 cards edited by Daniela Degl’Innocenti, conservator of the Prato Museum.
– Edited by Rita Airagi, artistic direction by Luca Stoppini.
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Jewels
Airaghi Rita (a cura di), Gianfranco Ferré. Sotto un’altra luce: Gioielli e Ornamenti (Jewels), Skira, Milano 2017
This book deals with a particular aspect of Gianfranco Ferré’s creativity and design: the jewel as an object. The intention is to highlight the special attention he has always devoted to it, both in terms of forms and materials and in terms of inspiration, with results that have often been innovative and surprising.
The volume must also be intended as a tribute and recollection of the very beginnings of Ferré’s creative trajectory, which actually started with bijoux and accessories – following an interest spurred by curiosity more than by a firm conviction, by the pleasure of manipulating materials more than by the resolution to become a fashion designer, which he would make several years later.
These objects testify to the consistency of a passion and an interest based on two main postulates, one methodological and the other aesthetic- stylistic. The first: just like a dress, a jewel is an unlimited landscape of confrontation with materials – in their countless peculiarities – and innovation, trials and progresses: an approach that is reminiscent of Galileo’s experimental and scientific method. The second: just like a dress, a jewel is meant to cover and decorate the body and emphasize its key points. It is bound to the human figure as if it were a part of it.
Ferré’s love for the jewel-ornament has never been confined in the background: the jewel and the dress merge into one another, as if one couldn’t do without the other. It’s an inseparable bond in terms of design and inspiration, experimentation and fascination.
Founder and designer of the homonymous clothing brand. Brunello Cucinelli was born in Castiglione (Perugia) in 1953. In 1972 he became a surveyor and enrolled in the faculty of engineering, which he left shortly thereafter. Starting in 1978 he began his career as an entrepreneur and proposed his distinctive character, the colored cashmere.
Brunello Cucinelli Cashmere
In 1982 he married Federica Benda, with whom he had two daughters, and moved to Solomeo, where he gave life to his company. In 1987 he inaugurated his new company headquarters in the fourteenth-century castle of the village.
Brunello Cucinelli Foundation
Foro Delle Arti
Instinctively brought to the knowledge, he devoted himself to humanistic studies (especially to philosophy) and began an activity of recovery and redevelopment of the ancient country, creating spaces dedicated to meeting and culture. The site chosen for the renovation project is the architectural and landscape complex of the Foro delle Arti, where under the aegis of the Brunello Cucinelli Foundation, a theater, an amphitheater and a Neo-nationalist academy are created, with a precious library inside.
Awards
2011 Campaign
At the same time he led his company to the most important successes, inspired by the great ideals of man: ethics, dignity and morals. From the beginning of 2000 his entrepreneurial and humanistic work is celebrated by a series of prestigious national and international awards. This includes: the Presidency of the Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria, Ernst and Young Award as an Italian entrepreneur of the year (2009), Prize Leonardo Qualità Italia (2010), delivered to the Quirinale by the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano, Cavalierato of the Italian Republic and Honoris Causa degree in Philosophy and Ethics of Human Relations conferred by the University of Perugia. In 2011 Brunello Cucinelli, was recognized worldwide as one of the most important brands in the luxury sector. The brand is present with several cashmere collections in more than 1000 multi-brand stores, 50 single-brand stores and numerous “shop in shops” spread throughout the various high department stores of the world.
