GATTINONI Fernanda (Designer)

The serene allure of Gattinoni's brilliant green, brocade evening coat is captured by Clifford Coffin in a photograph for American Vogue in 1947. Hinting at Imperial Chinese influences, its Zen-like dignity anticipates the refined ethnicity of Romeo Gigli. Gattinoni trained at the Rome fashion house Ventura, before opening her own atelier. Here she attracted the likes of Audrey Hepburn. Ingrid Bergman and Anna Magnani _ film-star clients renowned for their highly photogenic mix of thoroughbred grace and soft femininity. In the 1950s, with the great success of films such as Roman Holiday (1953), Rome became synonymous with the glamour of cinema and Gattinoni came to epitomize cultured European sophistication and romance. She also offered indulgent escapism _ twenty-five full-time embroiderers were employed to decorate wedding dresses _ for a clientele weary of postwar realities. 

Also look up for Coffin, Gigli, Molyneux