Marchesa Luisa Casati by Man Ray (1922) Marchesa Luisa Casati was an eccentric patroness of the arts and socialite, born into an aristocratic Italian family in 1881. As a teenager, she inherited an immense fortune that she later used to fund her transformation into a living work of art. In her ruined Venetian palace (the ... Read more
Emilio Pucci dress, 1968 Back in March I visited the Diana Vreeland After Diana Vreeland exhibition at Museo Fortuny in Venice, Italy. It was the day after the opening that was accompanied by an international symposium on Diana Vreeland, bringing to Venice notable scholars, curators and other fashion people I felt I should have recognized ... Read more
If you've ever been to Venice, you know the shopping is mostly about Venetian masks and Murano glass products (if you haven't been, the beautiful Elegance in Exile exhibition is more than enough reason to go). In the past year little second hand, vintage and consignment shops – from cheap to very expensive – have ... Read more
Last weekend I took a quick trip to Venice with my family to see the Elegance in Exile: Between fashion and costume, the time of Sergei Diaghilev (L'eleganza in esilio. Tra moda e costume, il tempo di Diaghilev) exhibition at Palazzo Mocenigo. The exhibition portrays the influence of Russian émigrés on fashion, displaying costumes of ... Read more
Laura Biagiotti's Spring/Summer 2012 collection is a romantic tribute to Venice, a city she adores. A luxurious harmony of colors, materials and decorations evokes the grandeur of Venice as an independent state, the "Most Serene Republic". Biagiotti translated the myth of the city to delicate lace dresses and lightweight knitwear in white, peach, lilac, pink ... Read more