Tosi

Piero (1927). Italian costume designer. He studied Fine Arts with Ottone Rosai, in his native city, Florence. It was against the backdrop of Boboli that he began his long working artistic partnership with Visconti, who introduced him into the movie business by assigning him to design the costumes of Bellissima. He would collaborate on all of Visconti’s greatest films, adopting as the occasion called for it an everyday attention to realism (Rocco and His Brothers) or the magnificent reconstruction of a period piece (Senso, Il Gattopardo), a job for which his profound artistic culture made him especially well suited. In films such as La caduta degli dei (The Damned), Death in Venice, and Ludwig, the selection of fabrics, the cut of the outfits, and the furnishings all contributed in decisive manner to the narrative of the film and the intentions of Visconti. He also had an intense period of collaboration with Mauro Bolognini (Il bell’Antonio, Metello, La viaccia, Senilità), all adaptations of literary works whose atmosphere Tosi’s costumes spectacularly evoked, and with Liliana Cavani (The Night Porter, Beyond Good and Evil). His work with Fellini was more infrequent (the episode of Toby Dammit), as with Pasolini (Medea), De Sica, Comencini, Castellani. He theorized that it was impossible for a costume designer to become a fashion designer and viceversa. He won numerous Nastro d’Argento awards.