Mariano fortuny

Sleeve detail

Am I the only one who didn’t know the dazzling Venetian fashion and textile wizard, the Prince of Pleats, the Virtuoso of Velvet, wasn’t even Italian, let alone Venetian? He was born Ma…

Pleated silk gown trimmed at top edge of SLV, SS & peplos hem w/ striped Murano glass beads, original bronze stenciled silk satin belt signed on back at loop closure, signed tape at interior underarm "Fortuny depose Made in Italy”, original box w/ sticker “Mariano Fortuny, Venise”,

‘Delphos’, dress, permanently pleated silk, designed by Henriette Nigrin, possibly with Mariano Fortuny, for Mariano Fortuny, Venice, Italy, retailed by Babani in Paris, France, ca. 1920, pale green silk dress with a matching cord, intermixed with silver, threaded through worked eyelets, and trimmed at the ends with Venetian faience beads, ribbons, belonged to Eleonora Duse

In 1906, a Spanish artist and fashion designer began creating clothing and textile designs, which lasted until 1949. He was very much influenced by the past and by non-European cultures and used those inspirations for his designs.

Fortuny on Instagram: “#MARIANOFORTUNY | Almost 150 years have passed since the birth of Mariano Fortuny, on May 11th 1871, yet his works and inventions continue…”

A model wearing a Delphos gown designed by Mariano Fortuny, c. 1920 © Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia/Archivio Museo Fortuny A couturier-friend of mine once wryly remarked (as she meticulously contemplated the exact landing spot of another rose-gold sequin destined for the bust of a ballgown)

One evening in late November, I went to the opening of the Fortuny y Madrazo: An Artistic Legacy opening at the Queen Sofia Institute. Photos are by Andrea Cairone for RARE vintage The QSSI has in partnership with its chairman, Oscar de le Renta, begun an annual costume exhibit which in just three years has become a must see on the fall schedule of shows in New York. The first exhibit I saw at the QSSI was the beautiful and dramatic Balenciaga: Spanish Master curated by Hamish Bowles which…

A Spanish artist living in Venice, Mariano Fortuny began designing printed fabrics in 1906. In work strongly influenced by antiquity, he emphasised the fluidity of garments with no waistline, creating sober, timeless, vertical pieces perfectly adapted to revealing the forms of the body. Registered in Fortuny's name in 1909, his emblematic ‘Delphos’ dress—named after the Charioteer of Delphi—took its inspiration from the chiton, the long woollen Greek tunic, and reflects the craze for Greece…