Bellissima. Italy and High Fashion 1945-1968

Daytime

Daywear, suits, coats are the other side of high fashion, a less showy side that speaks of sophisticated luxury that doesn’t require unique events to manifest itself.

These are the objects that define the urban imaginaries of the modern age. The details of their construction combined with the quality of Italian textiles, the craftsmanship that is juxtaposed with industrial work, underlie the formal solutions that characterize these outfits.
High fashion’s path is also the exploration of this territory, which allowed the great Italian couturiers, between the 1950s and 1960s, to take up the challenge, experiment.

It is the path that led straight to ready-made clothing, and toward prêt-à-porter fashion.

Ognibene-Zendman Completo da giorno in lana double face, 1967 ca.
Day ensemble in wool, reversible, ca. 1967 Courtesy Collezione Enrico Quinto e Paolo Tinarelli

Space

Sequins, fringes, aluminum chainmail, geometric designs in relief that modulate and enliven the synthetic shapes of fashion: the gleam of metal is the emblem of visions of the future, and of that Sixties aesthetic that was projected toward a tomorrow in style so well described in Elio Petri’s The 10th Victim, 1965. Clothing shaped by Pop and Op Art ideas and that foreshadowed the sidereal scenarios of 2001: A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrik (1968).

This is the high fashion that is aware of the very young…

…that accompanies the syncopated dances and hyper-graphic poses of the Vogue models, and that moves from the Baroque palazzi of the Roman nobility, to the dance ring at the Piper Club, and the black and white set designs of TV variety shows.

Irene Galitzine Pijama palazzo da gran sera in jersey con frange di canottiglie, cristalli e perline in vetro, realizzato per il department store texano Neiman Marcus, autunno/inverno 1960-61. Etichetta: Irene Galitzine, Roma; Neiman Marcus Formal Palazzo Pyjama in jersey fringed with braiding, crystals and glass beads, made for the Texas-based department store Neiman Marcus, autumn/winter 1960-61. Label: Irene Galitzine, Roma; Neiman Marcus Courtesy Galitzine – Archivio Storico

Exotism

The appeal of the East and exoticism is transformed – in Italian high fashion – into elaborate and precious applications and embroidery: floral motifs, arabesques and geometric abstractions become the glittering parts of the silhouette, positioned on the collar, cuff and hem, and they even invade the whole surface of the dress.

But the sumptuous splendor is not exhausted in the decoration: in 1960 the Palazzo Pyjama conceived by Irene Galitzine along with her young collaborator Federico Forquet is highly successful at the Florentine fashion events. The pant and tunic ensemble tells a story of modern noblewomen lying languidly on mountains of pillows in Roman palaces.

Valentino Abito da sera in raso, linea a toga, interamente bordato con un ricamo di paillettes e strass, indossato da Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, autunno/inverno 1967-68. One shouldered evening ensemble in satin, edged with an embroidery of sequins and rhinestones, worn by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, autumn/winter 1967-68. Courtesy Valentino S.p.a.

Cocktail

Cocktail dresses tell of the stages in a day of elegance, in which words like “late afternoon” and “early evening” appear, social events that are an almost everyday occurrence, less spectacular than gala events, but no less important to decreeing the success, or lack thereof, of fashionable ladies’ looks.

The cocktail dress is the stage on which Italian creators can try out their boldest experiments.

The names of such lines become more complicated – “blown-glass,” “alternated,” “solar,” “bubble,” “box,” “stem.” Over the course of the 1960s the situations become more relaxed: pants make an appearance, toes become wider, and heels lower and thicker; sometimes a spectacular piece of costume jewelry accompanied by a bejeweled sandal is the real star of the outfit.

Black & White

The Manichean chromatic rhythm that alternates black and white is the design principle underlying some of the outfits on display, which represent the most successful expressions of Italian high fashion between the 1950s and 1960s, intended not as a place celebrating elite atmospheres, but as an outstanding creative workshop, the space in which to cast light on the poetics of the Italian creators.

Essential and graphic…

Hence, the colors black and white become the X-ray through which to read the qualities of those outfits that more than others experiment with new formal solutions, unexpected lengths, unprecedented combinations of materials.

Fendi Cappotto doppio petto in visone con lavorazione chevron in tre colori alternati per la parte superiore e bianco assoluto a fasce orizzontali per quella inferiore unita da una zip, autunno/inverno 1960-61 Double-breasted mink coat, with chevron patterns in three alternating colors on the top and full white horizontal bands on the lower section, connected by a zipper, autumn/winter 1960-61 Courtesy Archivio Storico Fendi

Arty

The atelier as a place where culture is produced becomes a witness – especially over the course of the 1960s – to atmospheres marked by the complicity between fashion couturiers and artists.

Some of the most emblematic cases are those of Roberto Capucci, Germana Marucelli, Mila Schön. Creators, who use the design of the outfit as a space in which to reflect upon the languages of contemporary art, and who cultivate a dialogue with artists and are thus transformed into visionary interpreters of the forms of their day and age.

Germana Marucelli. Abito da sera, Linea Alluminio, autunno/inverno 1968-69. Paillettes su seta con motivi ideati con la collaborazione di Paolo Scheggi di cui si scorge sullo sfondo una parete dell’opera Intercamera Plastica. Archivio Germana Marucelli, Milano. Fotografia di Marcello Gobbi.

Gala Evening

The sartorial interpretation of the uniqueness that is proper to great events, the high fashion outfit is the instrument that marks the rhythm of the wearer’s steps on the red carpet, that breathes life into the foyers of the greatest theaters on opening night, and the rooms of aristocratic palazzi where fancy balls are held.
If between the 1940s and the 1950s the exaggerated volumes in clothing are the surface on which articulate precious embroideries, virtuosities of fine craftsmanship are brought to life, in the 1960s they are transformed into sophisticated architectures of the imagination, aimed at the realization of an impossible construction, a deliberately and obsessively unique and unrepeatable one.

Emilio Schuberth Abito da gran sera in raso di seta con decorazioni realizzate con pittura su stoffa, applicazioni e ricami in raso, velluto, tessuto e filato lamé, filo di seta e lana, appartenuto a Marcella Marotta Rossellini, 1951 | Evening gown in silk satin with decorations in painted fabric, appliqués and embroidery in satin, velvet, lamé fabric and yarn, silk thread and wool, worn by Marcella Marotta Rossellini, 1951. Courtesy Collezione privata Gabriella Lo Faro

Cinema

Between the 1950s and 1960s, Italian cinema and the major international productions are fueled by Rome’s high fashion and its atmosphere.

The atelier of Sorelle Fontana provides the scenario for Luciano Emmer’s movie Three Girls from Rome (1952), and also designed by Sorelle Fontana are the outfits that parade by in the Turinese atelier portrayed by Michelangelo Antonioni in The Girlfriends (1955). Nor can we overlook the names of Fernanda Gattinoni, Emilio Schuberth, and later Valentino, Fabiani, Tiziani: these are some of the names that are linked to the glamour of the actresses that represent la dolce vita.

Cinecittà and Hollywood on the Tiber: it’s not just a question of costumes…

Italian and international actresses become loyal clients of the great Roman ateliers, and these couturiers become the privileged referents for the personal wardrobes of such icons as Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Anna Magnani, Silvana Mangano, Kim Novak, Elizabeth Taylor.

Ingrid Bergman indossa Gattinoni in EUROPA 51 // Gina Lollobrigida indossa gioelli Bulgari, Come September (1961) Directed by Robert Mulligan ©Universal Pictures // Anita Ekberg indossa gioelli Bulgari alla conferenza stampa del film BOCCACCIO 70, 1961