- 18 Jun 2007, 06:35
#827383
Italian fashion designer Gianfranco Ferre has died at Milan's San
Raffaele hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
Ferre, 62, had been admitted to hospital on Friday. Dctors confirmed
his death at 9:00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Sunday.
The portly, bearded and bespectacled designer was known for his sharp,
tailored women's suits and furs.
He was big in Italian fashion in size as well as standing. Ferre wore
trademark three-piece suits -- a world away from the older Giorgio Armani's
clean-shaven, trim looks and T-shirt and jeans image.
Ferre was born in 1944 in Legnano, near Milan. He graduated in
architecture from Milan Polytechnic Institute in 1969. One of his first jobs
was making raincoats in Genoa.
He launched his first own-label womenswear line in 1978 and in the same
year founded the Gianfranco Ferre company. In 1982 he sent his first menswear
collection down the runway and in 1987 he unfurled Gianfranco Ferre fourrures
furs.
Ferre then branched out into fragrances, jewellery, children's wear and
a spa venture with British company ESPA.
In 1989 he became artistic director of one of France's most prestigious
fashion houses, Christian Dior, at the request of owner Bernard Arnault. He
left after seven years and the spring 1997 collection was his last for the
French label.
Ferre's Milan workspace was in the bohemian Brera district, in a
converted 1902 shipping factory called the Gondrand building.
At his last womenswear show in February, 2007, the singer Skin modelled
the dazzling finale of a diamond-studded spider web top. Skin, who used to
sing with the band Skunk Anansie, also performed a concert in the Ferre
headquarters.
Raffaele hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
Ferre, 62, had been admitted to hospital on Friday. Dctors confirmed
his death at 9:00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Sunday.
The portly, bearded and bespectacled designer was known for his sharp,
tailored women's suits and furs.
He was big in Italian fashion in size as well as standing. Ferre wore
trademark three-piece suits -- a world away from the older Giorgio Armani's
clean-shaven, trim looks and T-shirt and jeans image.
Ferre was born in 1944 in Legnano, near Milan. He graduated in
architecture from Milan Polytechnic Institute in 1969. One of his first jobs
was making raincoats in Genoa.
He launched his first own-label womenswear line in 1978 and in the same
year founded the Gianfranco Ferre company. In 1982 he sent his first menswear
collection down the runway and in 1987 he unfurled Gianfranco Ferre fourrures
furs.
Ferre then branched out into fragrances, jewellery, children's wear and
a spa venture with British company ESPA.
In 1989 he became artistic director of one of France's most prestigious
fashion houses, Christian Dior, at the request of owner Bernard Arnault. He
left after seven years and the spring 1997 collection was his last for the
French label.
Ferre's Milan workspace was in the bohemian Brera district, in a
converted 1902 shipping factory called the Gondrand building.
At his last womenswear show in February, 2007, the singer Skin modelled
the dazzling finale of a diamond-studded spider web top. Skin, who used to
sing with the band Skunk Anansie, also performed a concert in the Ferre
headquarters.
