Monday, June 18, 2007

Homage to Gianfranco Ferre

The 62 years Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre died Sunday in a Milan hospital, of a massive brain hemorrhage.

The architech Gianfranco Ferre made his debut in fashion in 1969, when Vogue featured his creations in a layout. Since then, he is been known for his studied creations, in tones of beiges, creams and rich shades of brown, suddenly combined with vibrant colours like red or cyclamen pink.

Hi's also the first non-french designer to become artistic director at fashion house Dior. The combination was not well received by the most important faces in fashion, like Giorgio Armani, how, at the time, commented: "You'd think [the French] could find someone talented enough amongst themselves."
And it looked that they were somehow right, because the solidly build clothes, with inspiration from Ferre architectural background, were not really compatible with Dior ultra-feminine looks.

With Mattioli, Ferre opens his own brand in 1970, expanding in the 80s also to menswear, flagrance, sunglasses and a haute couture collection.

Among Ferre faithfull clients, you can count international stars like Sophia Loren, Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey and Barbra Streisand.







His 2007 ready-to-wear collection, presented in September last year, in Milan, combined this year glam-sport look with a nautical theme, in a serie of somehow men-inspired outfits. The white and beige are the omnipresent colours.





He completed his collection with flamenco-inspiration dresses, in a combination of ruffle, polka dots, contrast stripes and laces.

His last collection, the 2008 spring-summer men line, is to be presented next week in Milan.

No comments: