Gianfranco ferre: “I am designer even in my soul”
Gianfranco Ferré was born on August 15, 1944 in Legnano. He passed away on June 17, 2007 in Milan, Italy. He received a degree in architecture in 1969 from the Polytechnic Institute of Milan. He made his first steps in fashion as a designer of accessories and jewellery when in 1967 he started his work with Walter Albini. His name became popular in 1969 when works of his were published on the pages of the Italian Vogue. For a certain period of time after 1970 he worked as a designer in the jewellery industry for Elio Fiorucci and Karl Lagerfeld. Gianfranco Ferré company was established in 1978. The amount of 100,000 US dollars were invested in it. Four years later Gianfranco Ferré launched his menswear collection and in 1986 was his haute couture debut. From 1989 until 1996 he was an artistic director of Christian Dior fashion house for the haute couture fashion and the prêt-a-porter lines. He had been creating collections of youth orientation since 1987 under the name of Ferréjeans. In 1991 he launched the ladies’ fragrance Ferré by Ferré. Nine years later Gianfranco Ferré sold his fashion house but continued to work as its chief designer. Until his last day he continued to work for the Gianfranco Ferré Black, Gianfranco Ferré White and Gianfranco Ferré Red lines offering the full range of clothes and accessories for men and women, including shoes, bags, fragrances, glasses, leather wear, scarves and ties. Another line of clothes and accessories is oriented to young customers, GF FERRÉ. The geography of Gianfranco Ferré distribution respects with its big scope, from the mono brand boutiques of the Gianfranco Ferré and GF FERRÉ labels up to 1,500 commercial locations, where they are offered with other brands. Gianfranco Ferré is a holder of such prestigious fashion awards as The Golden Thimble, The Golden Eye and many others.
The world of Gianfranco Ferré is impressive because of its incredible refinement. It is a refinement of no limitations. His works are indicative because of at least two things. The first is a delicate sensitiveness for harmony, a perfect proportion and a balance of colours. The second is an elusive feeling of elegance of its classical meaning. The meaning as discovered and developed for decades by such colossi of the designers’ art like Coco Chanel and Christian Dior.
THE ARCHITECT BECOMES A DESIGNER
Why did Ferré requalified as a designer from an architect? How did it happen that he absolutely imposed himself in Paris, conquering the Dior empire? What memory is left after the visit of the stylist in Bulgaria? What is the woman dressed by Gianfranco Ferré? What is the maestro inspired by? What are his suggestions?
To get to know the art of the unusual creator guarantees the pleasure from his works full of a lot of charm and poetry of the style and presumes definitely a diving into his ocean of fantasy, luxury and dreaming. Gianfranco Ferré is a successor of entrepreneurs- technicians, a grandparent who manufactured bicycles and a father who was a machine engineer. He graduated architecture in Milan but shortly after that he devoted himself to the make of jewellery and accessories, an activity that is very fascinating and at the same time an activity of exceptional precision. And he worked not simply for somebody but for some of the most influential designers, the Italians Walter Albini and Elio Fiorucci and the German Karl Lagerfeld. His fate and personal abilities sent him as a commercial representative of a textile company to India. For a couple of years there, he obtained impressions and inspiration from the ancient culture and the customs, full of colour and life. He has everlasting memories from the Indian sari: a regular piece of cloth, but of drapes of culture and feminine refinement that make it a true masterpiece, he would say after years.
After his return to Milan in 1978, he opened his own Ferré fashion house. The merit for this belongs to the fashion entrepreneur and industrialist Franco Matiolli, who rendered him great financial support. In the next few years, the designer launched women’s and men’s collection of ready-to-wear clothes respecting with their solutions of design and colour, as well as with the high quality of the make. A crucial moment in the biography of Gianfranco Ferré as a designer is his appointment in 1989 as a chief designer of the famous fashion house Christian Dior (Paris) as a replacement of Marc Bohan who was fired. The capital of world fashion was scandalized: a foreigner was nominated to be the main artist of the pride of the French fashion industry. French aesthetes were particularly indignant by this fact but were given a well-deserved answer by one of the fashion emperors - Giorgio Armani: “I have no idea what all this fuss is about. I doubt that the French could find someone more talented than Gianfranco?!” Very soon Ferré proved that he was a successful choice: the very first haute couture fashion collection designed by him for Dior received the highest award in France, The Golden Thimble!
His knowledge of architecture was not only an obstacle in his designers’s works but significantly facilitated the materialization of his ideas and whims, as Ferré emphasized in his initial period that the only difference in the designs of suits and buildings is in the construction materials and the size. What is his fashion philosophy actually? The style of Ferré is like a print of the views and landscapes his eyes have seen during his many trips, though indirectly, scenes of city life as well as products of his imagination that is really of no limitations. It is mandatory though to emphasize the tolerance that the designer himself feels towards fashion and about to what extend his contemporaries are obliged to follow it. Years ago the maestro had said: "Man should be happy and have on clothes that make him happy”. And he had added: "Man should become aware of the choice of clothes simply “in a physical manner” rather than transform the latest fashion line into his programme. For me the most important is the “imprint” that the silhouette leaves. That invisible thing, which seems to be “hanging” in the air for another moment. "
When he became a leading artist of Christian Dior, Ferré decided to do his best so nobody is disappointed or feels cheated. His ambition was justified, he was extremely diligent for his first collection of the Dior label, controlled every detail, every item. "I am proud,” Gianfranco Ferré said, “that they have chosen me. I am a designer in my soul. I feel an heir of Balenciaga’s technique, of the fantasy of Jacques Fath, and of Coco Chanel as well, because of taste for the fashionable."
Many times Ferré emphasizes the role of the fashion stylist in the orientation of people of nowadays not only regarding their way of dressing but in general, in the way they manage in life. "To be able to create clothes that are in harmony with the social environment and with the actual lifestyle of the modern woman, in general, is very exciting, in my opinion. As important as anything that brings meaning and beauty to life”
“I DO NOT CARE ABOUT WOMEN’S AGE ”
Ferré designs for the representatives of the strong sex too but he is inspired mainly by the woman, by her sensuality, delicacy, passion and affection. "In principle I do not care about women’s age”, the designer says sincerely. “I am interested in her natural features. I have never been able to design, imagining for example a dummy or something unreal. I work having in mind the woman of nowadays – busy, active, purposeful… A woman for whom to look well is important." By the way, what are the women dressed by Ferré?
" I could call the line that I follow, fashionable, but reserved. I don’t deny anything feminine, but I prefer the clear outline of the dress that gives the woman a real and businesslike character” the designer says in his interviews. Throughout the years the designer perfects his capability of creating clothes for the beautiful ladies, those ladies that demonstrate only internal and external beauty. One can find a number of key words in the designer’s vocabulary that express his thinking in the best possible way. Such key word is the “freed femininity”, a condition, to which the stylist is striving continuously. Years ago Gianfranco Ferré showed models inspiring the imagination, made of the elastic fabrics that were topical for the seasons in even the more topical bright colour palette. Inspired by the corsets and the mini-length, the designer dressed his models in clothes fully displaying the women’s forms. Ferré himself shared that his designs made a cult of the refined freed femininity.
FERRÉ AND BULGARIA: UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS
Gianfranco Ferré is one of the most respected designers in Bulgaria. If we look back in time we will remember two especially exciting events related to his charming personality: the first is the visit of the Italian designer in Sofia in 1995 and the second is the presentation of his complete collection in 2005. What do we remember from these exciting moments of contact with the elegant style of Ferré?
The visit of Gianfranco Ferré in Sofia in 1995 was the biggest event of the fashion life in Bulgaria. The Russian Winter collection shown at that time left indelible impression with its fabulous nature, beauty and extravaganza. Let’s refresh these memories. The visit of the Maestro was at an invitation of Ralitsa Hofstetter who was later awarded Zlatnata Igla (Golden Needle) of the Bulgarian Academy for Fashion for this. The Bulgarian top models, invited personally by the designer to walk on the catwalk were Evgenia Kalkandjieva, Kalina Naidenova – Antonucci, Ralitsa Baleva and others. Taking a question at the special press conference at the National Palace of Culture about the essence of his work and about the sources of his inspiration, in particular, Gianfranco Ferré answered that inspiration could be anywhere – from the flickering of lights in a glass of water, the night view or the camel running through the desert. "There are no boundaries for the imagination”, the stylist underlined at that time. “It is the capability to make this moment alive, to cover it in all its hues”.
It is known that Ferré dresses such famous people from the sphere of art, business and politics as Sophia Loren, Jacqueline Bisset, Gerard Depardieu, Barbra Streisand, Margo Hemingway, Jacques Chirac, Jean Seymour, Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, among others. During his visit to Sofia, however, when I asked him who his most famous clients were, the designer answered with the following words literally: “It would be wrong to say names as they are many. They are well –known actresses even queens. Young singers, rock stars. I learned something very important from my work with the Dior Empire: respect and discreetness for the name of the client. That is why I find it correct to not mention names”. Poetry and elegance accompany inevitably the works of Gianfranco Ferré. They were among the most remembered sensations during the presentation of his Russian Winter collection in Sofia. The stylist himself emphasized before Bulgarian journalists that at the time he was designing this collection he had been thinking about pureness of the white snow, about beautiful Russian countesses dressed in black velvet, Russian woods and the Russian magic that is in his imagination.
The other exciting event related to the great Ferré and his presentation in Bulgaria is the fashion show of his 2005 summer collection. The collection of Gianfranco Ferré, showed at Hilton Hotel - Sofia on March 16, 2005, could really be qualified as stunning. The fashion house was represented in Bulgaria by two of its most important head persons: Alessandro Varisco (sales and marketing director) and Marco Vezani (finance manager). The guests from Italy had done their best to fairly satisfy the interest of both ladies of refined taste and gentlemen keen on their good appearance. A couple of minutes before the beginning of the fashion show, the owners of Differente boutique announced also the face of Ferré for Bulgaria, the famous pop star Rushi Vidinliev. Parts of two collections were shown during the fashion show, Black Label, the haute couture line of Ferré, and White Label, prêt-a-porter clothing of Gianfranco Ferré. What fashion did Ferré launch at that time for the women of style and self-confidence? Jackets were in combination with flowing trousers and skirts in a combination with striking shirts with embroidery and sequins. Prints, imitating the skins of forest animals, gave special kind of aesthetic aggressiveness. The colours were pastel and soft and did not exclude shades of grey, accents on the pink and orange and the purity of white.
In the message, addressed to the Bulgarian audience, Gianfranco Ferré himself underscored: ”I see my clothes as pieces of a mosaic, as threads of a tapestry, as elements in a global project called style. They are stages of my professional and personal journey to wisdom, the innovation processes, artistic ideas, cuts full of decisiveness, original solutions”.
The aesthetic of the famous Italian more than ever accentuated on the mix between the daily and the formal, the serious and the attractive. Eroticism is tender and under control, and the perfection of the make and the quality of the fabrics formulate the elegance in a unique way. Businessmen are clad by Ferré comfortably and at the same time strictly. The haute couture idea is supported by the well selected tones, such as beige, hazelnut, ecru, cream and impressive blue. You will be wrong if you are left with the impression for too much conservatism or retro influence. The striking jackets, safari jackets, light jackets and blouses made with a lot of manual work suggest the idea of strength, power and energy in purely cultural meaning. The fashion show in Sofia was heartily applauded by the Head of the Troud daily, Tosho Toshev, the Minister of Finance of Bulgaria Milen Velchev, the Italian ambassador, H. E. Giovan Battista Campagnola with his charming wife Zohara, Lyubka Kachakova, the wife of the Minister of Transport of Bulgaria, Silvia Vassileva, designer Darya Manchenko and many other connoisseurs of the refined style. The stars of Visage agency stood out among the models, including Gergana Polezhanova, Tanya Ilieva, Zornitsa Hristova, Tedy Velinova, Rositsa Chernogorova and others.
FASHION PHILOSOPHY AND WORK STYLE
Those who knew Ferré closely have been completely within the power of his kind-heartedness, finesse and aristocratism. Goodness to the utmost, indeed, in a combination with warmness supplemented by strict discipline regarding the preparation for work and the work itself in connection with the creation of new clothes: at the stage of concept and, later as a final production, trade, advertising and branding. It was still at the end of the 1980s when one of the assistants and relatives of Ferré, Rita Airaghi, had commented how well organized he was as a manager and entrepreneur. She emphasized his pragmatism and resourcefulness in the studio: “Gianfranco is very efficient. He comes to work with a plan already worked out in his mind and with all details considered very carefully: requirements of the market, production schedules, financial limitations, the development of individual ideas, the advertising, everything". Although Ferré was dealing mainly with the design, he was fully aware of the necessity of effective interaction between the activity of the designer and the manager, between the emotions and the material production. If we look into his concept of a creator, it would be impossible not to be aware of the unity, in which he considers tradition and gained experience, on the one hand, and emotional reaction, on the other hand. In order to arrive at a wonderful end product, harmony should be established between the single details, motives, stories and ideas. As the designer himself stated: “Any work, any collection catches the richness and the shades of emotions and experience. And each single element tells a story, vibrating with inspiration and ideas, following the same way”.
The feeling for space and the skills of Gianfranco Ferré in the field of geometry were noticed by fashion theoreticians and experts. The original expressions of the forms in his work and their sculpture impact were paid attention by British fashion analyzer Colin McDowell who said that his works have power and beauty of sculpture. His clothes are powerful statements of shape and have the crisp quality of origami. If such a thing is possible, Ferré has developed into a fashion intellectual produced clothes of such a logical perfection that they are like the solution to a complicated engineering equation."
Gianfranco Ferré considers the evolution of his style and in general the dynamics of the process of creation, in which succession and gained professional experience are the basis for the further more interesting and exciting works. The following words of his are really a powerful argument in the direction of the statement that fashion is an art equal to the other arts and with it the following aesthetic regularity is in effect with the same genuine power. ”I see my clothes as pieces in a mosaic, elements in a global project of style. Every creation captures a crescendo of emotions and experiences: innovative processes, state-of-the-art treatments, resolutive cuts, original solutions. In a few words, these are the reasons due to which any work, of any collection including those from the past, reveal the relieving dimension of the attained confidence and the implemented objectives. On the other hand, every collection is a starting point for the implementation of upcoming objectives and newly born ideas...”
We can fully trust the shared pleasure of Ferré of the opportunity to create and satisfy his curiosity of a creator. To a certain extent he makes a fetish of his works by noting what strong impulses they cause with him: „Gaining from my experience in the past now I see my clothes fully fascinated by them but in a different way. Until I feel they are mine, I have a relationship with them on a different basis. They provoke memories, spread new sensations. A sense of journey in stages, which has reached its end, with references to the route of the new directions where thoughts and impressions are transformed and form unprecedented horizons. In front of these horizons, I feel great reverence, strong curiosity and huge pleasure from the upcoming opportunity for discovering ...”
BLONDE VENUS: CHARISMA AND ELEGANCE
I have been lucky to attend some fashion shows of Gianfranco Ferré. Each of them has really left a very strong trace in my consciousness and memory. Why? Because of its original, feminine and exceptionally beautiful works, the precise balance of colours, volumes, fabrics and silhouettes and last but not least the unforgettable atmosphere, the magic of the show the unity of time, space and dynamic and the authentic mix of sounds, light and choreography. That is how I have remembered the prêt-a-porter of Ferré for Dior Fashion House that he showed in October 1995 in Carrousel de Louvre, Paris, entitled Blonde Venus. The impression for this style, live with much classical style, charisma and refined elegance, all of the typical Ferré values, is still much alive in my memories. Gianfranco Ferré got his inspiration for his spring-summer collection 1996 for Christian Dior from the mythical ladies in the cinema, the great fairies of the big screen like Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth, Barbara Hutton and Marlene Dietrich. A show full of dream and craving for true women, for creatures of passion and charm who give meaning to men’s lives and are the masterpieces of greatest impact of our time! One of the topics was in the Gentleman style – wide trousers, silk of the colour of ivory, the Gigolo silhouette. Femininity, mystery, personification are the characteristics of these models. The legendary women of the 1930s and the 1940s would hardly ever cease to be a source of admiration and charm. The strict cut and the structured line mark the second topic in the collection of Ferré intended for Christian Dior Fashion House. The spirit of travelling is successfully pleaded with the suites of the caban type and colours as steel grey, coral, Venetian pink, as well as the colours of the mimosa and the crocus, the leading colour preferences of Maestro Dior.
Short overcoats and wide trousers, a particular piety to black colour, black glasses and berets decorated with fair curls – this is the personal style of Marlene Dietrich! The general impression from this collection is the return to men’s elements in women’s fashion, the respect for the classical values and to such symbols of elegance like Monte Carlo, Transatlantic, The Blue Angel, among others. Idolized elegance is probably the most exact definition of this wonderful fashion: fine fabrics, among which organza prevails, silk crepe and the pearl embroideries supplement the feeling of exceptionality, exhausting passion and deep respect before mystic beauty.
CLASSICS AND ECCENTRICITY
In the last years of his life the designer had been persistently looking for the alchemical solution of the dilemma – classics or eccentricity. His solution was the truest: both classics and eccentricity. Although in his last days, he managed to find the formula of the elegance of the present – chic that results from functionality, aesthetic challenge and perfect knowledge and application of the classical achievements of designers. For example, the focus of the autumn-winter collection 2004-2005 of Gianfranco Ferré was on the irresistible brilliant and eccentric manner of dressing. The journalists, who attended the fashion show on March 2, 2004 in Milan, commented that monochromatic colours were in a combination with cold blue, grey, green and brick red, resulting in unexpected fluorescent effects. The collection included classic genres of clothing like city costumes, skirts and jackets. Cashmere and leather gave additional feeling of sport character of the autumn-winter messages of Ferré. To all this we should add the calmed down nylon ensembles worn with coquettish skirts, elegant blouses and the so called trench coats, waterproof coats with removable lining and belts. Comments in the media did not miss the fact that evening dresses included short dresses with curves, intended for slim figures, spiral necklines and others. Stretch jersey, intriguing mixes of tulle, netting, treated satin, lace and others prevailed among the fabrics. Shiny striking decorations reminding the scales of an alligator finalized the impression of refined and negligent elegance in the autumn-winter proposals of Gianfranco Ferré, wrote at that time one of the most competent informational agencies Associated Press.
THE OTHERS FOR HIM: GIORGIO ARMANI AND DONATELLA VERSACE
When Ferré, one of the most prominent designers on the planet, passed untimely away on June 17, 2007 in Milan, the fashion circles in Italy and all over the world were deeply grieved. In order to pay tribute to him, the authorities of his home town Legnano announced that a whole square will be named after him. A lot of superlatives were said about the Maestro, high appraisals as well as nice words full of sorrow were heard. The comments of two of the most popular Italian designers, Donatella Versace and Giorgio Armani, made particularly strong impression. Intellectualism, artistry, high ethics and dignity, these and a number of other abilities of Ferré were ranked high by his famous colleague and friend Giorgio Armani. Here is what he said in connection with the tragic death of Gianfranco Ferré: “I 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." The image that comes to my mind when thinking of Gianfranco Ferré is a man of dignity and calm with a sense of responsibility which always accompanied him”. The sister of Gianni Versace, who was assassinated about ten years ago, Donatella Versace characterized him as a highly professional creator and a designer of style: “He was a gentleman of another time. 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 couturier 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”.
Ferré is dead but his brand is alive. After certain hesitations related to finding an appropriate successor of the head of the fashion house for many years, Lars Nielsen was appointed as a chief designer. Six months later he was dismissed and two young stylists Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi were named creative directors instead of him.
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Gianfranco Ferré’s fashion is of great impact because it is full of life and provokes feelings. It really proclaims joy from life, admiration and respect before the beauty of the woman, modern, liberated, full of love. It is absolutely rightfully to call Ferré a magician, a poet, a dreamer, a sculptor. His works provoke admiration from the mastered form and wake of the most sincere feelings of exaltation from the contact with the world of insane and spontaneous rather than only wise and perceived beauty.
References:
Designer Gianfranco Ferré Dies at 62 in Hospital, 18.06.2007, VESTI.bg;
Еджинс, Т. Краят на модата. W studio, С., 2000; Ермилова, Д. Ю. История домов моды, “Академия”. Москва, 2003; What Did Fashion Lose by the death of Gianfranco Ferré? (after Los Angeles Times) June 18, 2007 - http://e-vestnik.bg/1437; О`Хара, Дж. Енциклопедия на модата. “Библиотека 48 “, С., 1995; Press release issued by SMG OOD, official representative of Gianfranco Ferré for Bulgaria and importer of GF FERRÉ; GF Ferré – NEW: A classic, layered yet sporty collection by the maestro. AP – APTN, 02 March 2004 ; De grote Mode-Encyclopedie. Éditions - Nathan. Paris, France, 1989; Martin, R. The St.James Fashion Encyclopedia: A Survey of Style from 1945 to the Present. Visible Ink Press. Detroit, 1997; McDowell, C. Fashion today. Phaidon Press Limited. London, 2000; O`Hara,G.The Encyclopaedia of Fashion.From 1840 to the 1980s.Thames and Hudson. London,1986; Reuters Television News; Seeling, Ch. Fashion. The century of the designer 1900 – 1999. Konёmann,2000,Cologne ; Stegemeyer, A. Who`s Who in Fashion. Third edition. Capital Cities Media, Inc. Fairchild Publications, New York, 1996, Steele, Valerie. Fashion, Italian Style. Yale University Press. New Haven and London. New York, 2003.
Photos:
1. Gianfranco Ferré
Photo: © De grote Mode-Encyclopedie.Éditions - Nathan. Paris, France, 1989.
2. Design by Gianfranco Ferré – early 90-ies.
Photo: © De grote Mode-Encyclopedie.Éditions - Nathan. Paris, France,1989, р. 78.
3. Haute Couture - Мats Gustafson, Gianfranco Ferré for Christian Dior, 1989.
Photo: © McDowell, C. Fashion today. Phaidon Press Limited. London, 2000.
4. Collection of Gianfranco Ferré for Christian Dior, 1992.
Photo: © McDowell, C. Fashion today. Phaidon Press Limited. London, 2000, р. 100.
5. - 7. Collection of Gianfranco Ferré for Christian Dior, Autumn-Winter 1994-1995.
Photo: © Seeling, Ch. Fashion. The century of the designer 1900 – 1999. Konёmann, 2000, Cologne.
8.– 10. Russian Winter Collection of Gianfranco Ferré in Sofia, Autumn-Winter 1996-1996.
Photo: © Ani Petrova
11. Gianfranco Ferré with Ralitsa Baleva at the finale of the Russian Winter fashion show of Gianfranco Ferré in Sofia, Autumn-Winter 1995-1996.
Photo: © Ani Petrova
12. Evening dress made of silk taffeta and cotton – collection of Gianfranco Ferré, Spring—Summer 1999.
Photo: © Irving Solero / Steele, Valerie. Fashion, Italian Style. Yale University Press. New Haven and London. New York, 2003, p. 83.
13. Collection of Gianfranco Ferré, Spring-Summer 2000.
Photo: © Maria Chandoha Valentino / Steele, Valerie. Fashion, Italian Style. Yale University Press. New Haven and London. New York, 2003.
14. Rushi Vidinliev – face of the advertising of Gianfranco Ferré for Bulgaria, 2005.
Photo: © Evgeni Dimitrov for BULPhoto
15. and 16. Collection of Gianfranco Ferré, Spring-Summer 2005 (shown on March 16, 2005 in Hilton Hotel – Sofia).
Photo: © Evgeni Dimitrov for BULPhoto
17. Collection of Gianfranco Ferré, Autumn-Winter 2005 - 2006.
Photo: © Gianfranco Ferré
18. Collection of Gianfranco Ferré, Autumn-Winter 2006 - 2007.
Photo: © Gianfranco Ferré
19. Collection of Tomaso Acquilano and Roberto Raimondi for Gianfranco Ferré, Autumn-Winter 2009-2010.
Photo: © Marcio Madeira for www.vogue.com
Translator: Reny Ivanova
Read: 16922 times © Fashion Lifestyle Magazine, issue 27, November 2009
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