Emilio Pucci, marquess di Barsento
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For more information on Emilio Pucci, marquess di Barsento, visit Britannica.com.
A leading figure in Italian fashion in the 1950s and 1960s, Pucci studied for a year at the University of Milan. In 1935 he travelled to the United States where he also studied, returning to the University of Florence, from which he graduated in 1941. After the war, he gained attention as a fashionable designer of skiwear after being featured modelling his own designs in Harper's Bazaar in 1948. This was followed in 1949 with designs for hats, casual trousers, and shirts that further drew him to the attention of an affluent fashion-conscious clientele which reflected his own social background. In 1950 he opened his own couture house in Florence, increasingly gaining attention for colourful casual clothing. His clothes became highly fashionable on both sides of the Atlantic from the mid-1950s, with the establishment of a shop on Fifth Avenue, New York, and featured in Vogue. From 1964 to 1973 he also served as a Member of Parliament for Florence, a period which saw the emergence of a new, less elitist generation of Milan-based Italian designers such as Armani and Versace. However, in the 1990s there was a revival of interest in Pucci's designs (‘Puccimania’) exemplified in the Versace Collection of 1991 that derived closely from Pucci's work of the 1960s.
Rising out of the ashes of European fashion after World War II, Emilio Pucci brought a spectrum of carefree colors to the rationed continent. His sportswear beginnings lent a casual air to his work, a welcome relief from recent austerity and a new meaning to the term "resort wear." The swirling freestyle patterns and fluid fabrics he used became internationally recognized and desired, copied by many but rivaled by few.
American Tina Lesser may have been earlier with her hand-painted silks, but Pucci quickly made them his own, covering the fine lustrous fabric with optical fantasies of geometric shapes. His color range came straight from an Aegean horizon, turquoise and ultramarine set against sea green and lime, or hot fuchsia and sunflower yellow. Pucci swept away the repetitive sailor styles and tailored linens of cruisewear and brought in a new air of ease and luxury with his breezy separates. He capitalized on the lull in British and French couture after the war that benefitted many American and Italian designers, and dressed the fashionable mondaine in bold ready-to-wear.
The government-backed presentations of Italian designers of the late 1940s provided an aristocratic Florentine backdrop for Pucci's collections, which were soon internationally popular, and he became increasingly aware of the importance of the American market to his success. His characteristic style was best seen in slim-legged trousers in fruity shades, which provided a sexy foil to loose-hanging tunics and classic shirts left to hang outside the waistband.
His collections encompassed more than just stylish but jaunty daywear. In 1961 he showed simple evening dresses with deep V-shape panels set into their sophisticated bias-cut silhouette. Pucci saw his greatest success in the 1960s; his psychedelic-patterned printed silks were seen everywhere. They were, and continued to be worn by celebrities, from early clients Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy to Madonna, all seduced by the light touch of his designs.
As his reputation grew, Pucci's distinctive patterns were aspired to by many; a Pucci scarf or vivid silk handbag provided the cachet of luxury. His name was seen on everything from gloves to small ornaments, yet by the 1970s his work, like that of other big fashion houses, seemed less in tune with the times. During the 1980s, Pucci ranges seemed irrelevant to the weighty tailored severity that preoccupied the fashion world. It was not until the start of the 1990s that the pure whirling colors of the Pucci label (by then directed by his daughter, Laudomia) were again universally embraced. His signature shapes and vivid patterns had already inspired a generation of Italian designers, notably Gianni Versace and Franco Moschino, and in 1991 the reinvigorated Pucci look was everywhere. It had been translated into the modern essentials—clingy leggings, catsuits, and stretch polo necks which continued the sexy feel of his work and contrasted perfectly with his airy shirts. His clothes sold out across the world as a new, younger audience took up the label, perpetuating its popularity, albeit on a less high profile level after the initial Pucci mania earlier in the year.
The eclectic use of surface pattern and innovative color combinations distinguishing Pucci's work have been widely emulated throughout the fashion strata. His use of color added a feeling of movement to his clothes, while the quality fabrics enhanced the fluid line. The classic separates he designed continued to be successful, while the addition of newer styles ensured that the label would continue as a vibrant note to fashion in the later 1990s after Pucci's death in 1992.
A rebirth of Pucci's distinctive prints for men, including swimwear, sleepwear and ties, was scheduled to arrive in U.S. in 1998, but not before a new collection of womenswear debuted in Florence in January. At a time when original Pucci designs brought in premium prices at vintage shops, the reissue of menswear was inspired. The fall/winter womenswear line, however, grew out of different circumstances. "The whole idea started during the Biennial exhibition in Florence last fall," Laudomia Pucci, a company's director, told Women's Wear Daily in December 1997. The tribute, arranged by her mother Crista, had garnered so much attention the family decided to introduce a 50-piece collection, mostly for women, designed by Milan-based designer Stephan Janson. "We decided on Stephan Janson to do the collection because he's young, well-traveled, and well-cultured," Laudomia commented, and Janson "will be able to live well in the Pucci universe."
In the 21st century, change came to Pucci by way of new ownership. In Feburary 2000 luxury conglomerate LVMH bought a controlling stake in the firm and initiated a rehaul of the Pucci image. Four new Pucci stores opened in Milan, Portofino, St. Moritz, and Palm Beach, followed by a segue into home furnishings. Next came the appointment of Puerto Rican designer Julio Espada as artistic director (Laudomia was named Image Director), and in 2001 came the launch of a snazzy Pucci website.
The online Pucci forum blended archival photos with newer images, with collections past and present. Laudomia believed the mix of "classic and contemporary" was worthy of special notice. "I don't think any fashion house with a history has tried to convey that dimension to an online audience," she remarked to Women's Wear Daily in July 2001. "They focus solely on now." The "now" of Pucci may be firmly rooted in the past, but is securely focused on the future.
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On Pucci:
— Rebecca Arnold; updated by Owen James
Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento (November 20, 1914 – 1992) was an Italian fashion designer.
Born in Florence, Italy, the son of an Italian marchese, Pucci studied in both Italy and the USA, eventually gaining a doctorate in political science in 1941. Pucci was a member of the Italian olympic ski team of 1934, and in 1935 won a skiing scholarship to Reed College in Oregon. He first ventured into clothing design at Reed by creating the ski team's uniforms. He graduated from Reed with the class of 1937, after also studying at the University of Georgia.
In 1947 he was photographed by Toni Frissell, a photographer working for Harper's Bazaar, wearing skiwear Pucci had designed himself. Upon learning this, Frissell's editor asked Pucci to design skiwear for a story on European Winter Fashion, which ran in the winter 1948 issue of the Bazaar
The exposure encouraged him to create and sell clothes for women, and he opened a couture
house in 1950 on the
From 1954 to 1968 he designed stewardess uniforms for Braniff Airlines. These avant-garde creations were designed as individual components to be added or removed as weather dictated. The uniforms included turtlenecks, t-shirts, crop jackets and culottes.[1] Among the more unusual innovations was a "bubble helmet" — a clear plastic hood worn by flight attendants between terminal building and aircraft to protect their hairdos from rain and the blast of jet engines.[2][3] He suggested the three bird motif for the design of the Apollo 15 mission patch.
In addition to his life of fashion, Pucci was elected to the Italian Parliament.
While a Member of Parliament, Pucci was hired by New York ad agency Jack Tinker and Associates to re-design the hostess wardrobes for Braniff International Airways. Pucci would end up designing seven complete outfits for Braniff hostesses, pilots and ground crew between 1965 and 1977. Pucci incorporated Alexander Girard's "BI" logo into some of his prints.
After his death in 1992 his daughter, Laudomia Pucci, continued to design under the Pucci name.
The Pucci brand was revived by the French firm Louis Vuitton-Moet-Hennessy Group, who acquired the rights in 2000. Designers who have worked under the Pucci brand include Stephan Janson, Julio Espada and Christian Lacroix. In 2006, British designer, Matthew Williamson replaced Lacroix as creative director. Laudomia Pucci continues to serve as the Image Director.
Emilio Pucci clothes and accessories are sold through Emilio Pucci and Rossignol boutiques worldwide and in high-end department stores, mostly feature the designer's original brightly coloured, often swirly, prints or new designs in his original distinct style. The fashion house produces ready-to-wear clothes and accessories for women, in addition to a small range of men's accessories. In the past, the house has produced a more comprehensive range of men's wear, including a line in partnership with Ermenegildo Zegna, which included men's jackets lined with Pucci printed fabric, especially for American department store Saks Fifth Avenue.
A limited-edition Pucci carrying case for the PlayStation Portable handheld gaming system was marketed as by Sony as a high-end accessory on their PlayStation Signature line. The case has since sold out. [4]
Pucci boutiques in the U.S. are located in New York, Bal Harbour,
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