Remembering Gianfranco Ferré
The “Architect of Fashion” & Fashion Innovator Dies at Age 62
As known for his generous proportions & wild temper as his sculptural, embellishment-happy design sensibility, the pillar of Italian fashion will be sorely missed.
"I think I have done my utmost to ensure that my style is constantly and consistently enhanced by a broad variety of suggestions, inextricably linked to my passions, my taste and my experiences," Italian fashion design giant (both figuratively & literally) Gianfranco Ferré told WWD before his recent death in Milan at the age of 62 from a brain hemorrhage. "It is not difficult, for example, to identify, in the various collections over the years, my love of the figurative arts, the great classical painters and, even more, the strong and simple sensitivity of modern and primitive art. The references to worlds and cultures I have experienced personally, particularly in the Far East (India, China, Japan), are easy to see, as are those to the important experiences of Western culture, from Baroque to Neo-classicism, Romanticism to Decadentism."
An artistic, inquisitive soul, Ferré’s Renaissance-like interests extended to culture, history, cuisine and art, and the modern-day debt of designers to elegant, skilled genius from the past, including the work Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga, and Charles Worth. However, l'architetto Ferré as his staff like to call him – no doubt because of his degree in architecture from Milan’s Politecnico University – was as famed for his oversized carriage & commensurate temper, an odd counterpoint to the fussy ruching, oversized cuffs, and embroidered flourishes he loved adding to his collections. (This sugar overload was no doubt what prompted Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune to once dismiss the designer as an “artistic flop”, writing: "The conclusion is that Ferré will never be a great couture designer.”) Nonetheless, his style of “graphic shapes, artsy constructions and precision-cut tailoring that exalted a woman's femininity, at times with a gender bender streak” resulted in Bernard Arnault’s choice of Ferré in 1986 to succeed Marc Bohan at Christian Dior, where he had reigned as Creative Director for three decades. "I really had no idea of the scandal I had triggered, also because everything happened so fast," noted Ferré once in an interview. "Back then, the fact that I was Italian created lots of problems. Luckily, though, my French wasn't that bad. I think that I turned Dior into something real and alive without betraying the luxe factor and its clients.”
He will be missed by his extensive list of A-list admirers. His clients included Sharon Stone, Elizabeth Taylor, Oprah Winfrey, soprano Jessye Norman, Queen Rania of Jordan, Paloma Picasso, Bernadette Chirac, Claude Pompidou, Sophia Loren, Princess Diana, Princess Michael of Kent, and Marie-Helene de Rothschild; his fan club extended to his peers. "I always observed his work and particularly admired him for his coherence and the intellectualism and artistry upon which he based his fashion philosophy until the end. The greatest sign of his character was in that constant expression of absolute independence,” opines Giorgio Armani. “He was an innovator in terms of form. He created fashion that was both spectacular but impeccable at the same time. He was a great courtier that knew how to create absolute chic with details that I'll never tire of looking at and that will remain a part of the history of fashion,” notes a saddened Donatella Versace. “He had a unique education. He was a creative genius with an architectural and cultural basis, who still had a lot to say," says Italian Chamber of Fashion, Mario Boselli, while Roberto Cavalli adds, "Ferré embodied the highest level of style, craftsmanship and creative bravura. He was a true artist, pure, a beautiful person that [Italian fashion] will truly miss."
