An Unlikely Catwalk

One side of our Italian family lives in Milan so every time we visit our cousins I window shop Via Monte Napoleone ,stroll through Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and power shop la Rinascente, Corso Genova and Milan’s outlet malls. But although Milan is Italy’s (and the world’s) fashion capital, Rome was the birthplace of  Italian fashion. Future Italian designers like Armani, Dolce and Gabbana, Prada, Missoni, Versace, Valentino, Benetton, Diesel and Gucci were all influenced by a trio of sisters who came to Rome with a sense of style that would change the fashion world forever. I know of them through an unlikely occurrence that introduced me to Italian design.

I first heard about Italian fashion during the early 60’s. Our high school was planning a fashion show and my future husband’s parents were on the planning committee. Living in a household with an Italian grandmother from the Veneto meant that the food, wine, art and design of Italy were part of his family’s DNA.  So it was only natural that when it came time to organize the event his mother Marian suggested that the committee consider the luxury, elegance and glamour of mid-century Italian fashion. This took some doing as the local department stores of Midwestern suburbia were not brimming with European designs in 1964. However Marian was determined and there were many “Mad Men” influenced women on the committee who were hungry for the latest in haute couture and more than happy to join the cause to bring “la bella vita” to our town. It happened that our town had the city of broad shoulders as an ally in making this dream come true. Our close proximity to Chicago’s Magnificent Mile made a plea from a small town high school Parent’s Association become a reality when Marian wrote to Fontana of Rome, one of Italy’s first houses of fashion.

The sisters Fontana biography of dress making began in the early 20^th century when they left their small village outside Parma to found Sorelle Fontana Atelier. Their vision and designs were the precursors of today’s Made in Italy with notable clients like Gioia Marconi, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the radio and later celebrities like Linda Christian who had them design her wedding dress when she married Tyrone Power in Rome. Newsreels and magazines were full of images of socialites and Hollywood stars wearing Fontana of Rome fashions. Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy, Liz Taylor and Margaret Truman were seen wearing Sorelle Fontana Atelier. America was charmed by Audrey Hepburn’s  look in the movie Roman Holiday and captivated by the dress Anita Ekberg wore splashing in the fountain in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. Both were designed by the Fontana sisters as well as the uniforms for Alitalia stewardesses and the official hostesses at the UN. Italian fashion was coming to America and Marian knew that Fontana of Rome was who she wanted to bring an Italian sense of style to our high school gym.

And so it came to be that the Fontana sister’s reply to her letter was yes. Che fortuna, they were going to be in Chicago for another event and surprisingly could fit our high school fashion show into their schedule. So for one magical night against the painted landscape of the fountains of Rome, our high school gym became the setting for what would be a once in a life time event when the alta moda of Italian fashion was worn on the most unlikely catwalk that you can imagine.