High Fashion from the aristocrats of Rome

Roman catwalks features the grand names of the Italian designers such as Gattinoni, Balestra, Furstenberf and Sarli

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.
Walt Disney's interpretation of the Little Mermaid inspired Rosy Garbo for the preview night, which had a dreamy, fairytale, surreal theme; she dressed up an unrecognizable Rita Montella, wife of Roma's and Italy's forward, while Marco Coretti created a butterfly woman, poetically wrapped in 150 metres of tulle and 70 overlapped skirts. Sartorial magic.
Lorenzo Riva paid his personal tribute to the women of the Fifties, glamorous divas such as Joan Fontaine, Natalie Portman or Jane Russell. Clinging suits (with skirts or pants) for the morning, evening gowns made in precious (and exciting) fabrics in the warm tones of gold, mustard, bronze and mauve, with lace and organza inserts.
Franco Ciambella immortalized in his creations the Tchaikovskian myths. The famous Swan Lake becomes the domain of absolute metamorphosis and mutations, silhouetted in black and white, sweetened with lace, organza, jais, and crystals.
For his 15th participation in this event, Camillo Bona evoked the Old England atmospheres of the late 19th century. For the day he proposes thin wool, silken tricots, raffia, tops in silk chiffon with embroidered insets, while for the evening Bona uses flax, raffia and cotton embroidered with semiprecious stones, topaz-coloured, to achieve sophisticated elegance, charm and simplicity.
Over 7,000 visitors marked the High Fashion parades: an important success for Rome. The audience demonstrated approval: Camilla of Bourbon, the glamorous and chic princess often invited by famous Parisian designers, liked Rome's subdued scenery, so different from those used in Paris for raising astonishment. "I love Italian fashion," she added. "It's always been an excellent calling card for me. There's no discussion, Italian women are the most elegant in the world."
From London, Donatella Dini, the wife of Italy's former Foreign Minister, expressed her "admiration for Stefano Dominella's remarkable job," and her hope to attend the July parades. She underscored her pride "in representing Italian fashion in the world, because our fashion is a real status symbol. As far as fashion goes, I'm not very faithful," she added. "I love Valentino, Capucci, Cavalli, Raffaella Curiel, and also Marco Coretti, young and sophisticated, who manages to valorize classical style with a touch of glamour."

Publication Date: 2003-04-13
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2595