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April 27 - May 4,2003 |
High Fashion from the aristocrats of Rome
Roman catwalks features the grand names of the Italian designers such as Gattinoni, Balestra, Furstenberf and Sarli
By Carmela Piccione
Originally Published: 2003-04-13
Class, rigour, and creativity formed the backbone of the high fashion event that turned Rome into an extraordinary kaleidoscope of meetings, shows, and of course parades. The event (co-ordinated by Art Director Stefano Dominella) took place at Palazzo delle Esposizioni. The catwalks prepared in the new Auditorium designed by Renzo Piano displayed the products of the major Italian fashion designers: people of international renown, such as Sarli, Gattinoni, Curiel, Riva, Vitti, Balestra, Furstenberg, and several new names who presented irreverent, against-the-tide lines. Several foreign designers also participated to the festivities: iconoclast Andrew MacKenzie, sophisticated Jamil Khansa from Lebanon, and Senegalese Oumou Sy, whose liberation from the jails of her country required an international mobilization. Raffaella Curiel dedicated her collection to the Far East, particularly to South East Asia. Her dresses are made in impalpable silk layered, embroidered and hand-painted, decorated with laces, organza, chiffon, and a lot of jewels in coral, turquoise, wood, mother-of-pearl and shells.
Balestra dreamed up women who carry the sea with them. "My ideal woman is a sexy piratess, seductive and fascinating; an icon overflowing with bright colours. However, the spring-summer fashion will rely on tones of cyclamen," explains the designer. "A romantic colour, despite the tragic moments we are experiencing."
Invention, experimentation, and craft are the code-words of Gattinoni and Guillermo Mariotto, who conceived a 'pathway of seduction and attraction' embodied by 12 women, beautiful icons of the past.
They include Joan of Arc, Maria Walewska, Juliet, Marilyn Monroe, the Countess of Castiglione, Mary Stuart... Egon von Furstenberg, the son of Clara Agnelli, decided not to cancel his parade despite the recent passing away of his uncle Giovanni. "My uncle was a self-reliant, charming man, with a unique elegance," remembered him in an aside. "At one FIAT plant I received over 4,000 handshakes from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. It was a moving, magnificent tribute. Italy did not forget." For next season the designer prince has chosen warm colours and oblique lines for very sexy dresses, made in chiffon and jersey, painted with playing cards and bingo scorecards, and decorated with Swarovski crystals and feathers of cocks, swans and marabou, stiffened with lacquers and glues.
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