Anna Maria Piaggi (22 March 1931 – 7 August 2012) was an Italian fashion writer. She was known for her bright blue hair, liberal use of make-up, and her sense of style that mixed vintage and contemporary fashion.[1]
Anna Maria Piaggi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 22 March 1931 Milan, Italy |
| Died | 7 August 2012 (aged 81) Milan, Italy |
| Occupation | fashion writer |
| Language | Italian |
| Spouse | Alfa Castaldi |
Career
editPiaggi was born in Milan on 22 March 1931.[2] She worked as a translator for an Italian publishing company Mondadori, then wrote for fashion magazines such as the Italian edition of Vogue and, in the 1980s, the avant-garde magazine Vanity. From 1988 she designed double page spreads in the Italian Vogue, where her artistic flair was given free expression in a montage of images and text, with layout by Luca Stoppini.[3] These networks of images and ideas built upon Piaggi's awareness of fashion and art history to provide an open-ended attempt at understanding fashion designers' influences.[1]
She used a bright red Olivetti "Valentina" manual typewriter designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1969.[4] She dressed in an exuberant, unique and eclectic way.
Piaggi appeared in the documentary Bill Cunningham New York about The New York Times fashion and social photographer Bill Cunningham.[5]
Personal life
editPiaggi married the photographer Alfa Castaldi in 1962 in New York. Castaldi died in 1995.[6] Piaggi died in Milan on 7 August 2012.[7][8]
Books
edit- (with Karl Lagerfeld) Karl Lagerfeld: A Fashion Journal. Thames and Hudson, 1986. ISBN 0500013950
- (with Gianni Brera) Africa di Missoni per Italia 90. Edizioni Electa, 1990. ISBN 8843534106
- Anna Piaggi's Fashion Algebra. Thames and Hudson, 1998. ISBN 0500018766
- Doppie pagine di Anna Piaggi in Vogue. Leonardo Arte, 1998. ISBN 8878138835
- (with Anna Wintour, Michael Roberts, André Leon Talley and Manolo Blahnik) Manolo Blahnik Drawings. Thames and Hudson, 2003. ISBN 050028413X
References
edit
- ^ a b Pass, Victoria Rose (2015). "Anna Piaggi". Fashion Photography Archive. London: Bloomsbury. doi:10.5040/9781474260428-fpa174. ISBN 978-147426042-8.
- ^ Diana Formaggio, Francesco Marraro (1987). Il "chi è" del giornalismo italiano: repertorio ragionato ad uso degli uffici stampa. Roma: Al. Ver. editrice. Accessed May 2014.
- ^ "Anna Piaggi - The Exhibition". Archived from the original on 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2014-05-22.. Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived 11 July 2007.
- ^ "Anna Piaggi: Fashion-ology; 2 February 2006 – 23 April 2006". Archived from the original on 2007-06-30. Retrieved 2007-05-28.. Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived 30 June 2007.
- ^ Whitwort, Melissa (1 February 2012). "'Bill Cunningham New York', gets UK cinema release". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ^ Cunningham, Bill (27 March 1994). "ON THE STREET; Apart From the Crowd". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
- ^ Bergin, Olivia (7 August 2012). "Fashion world mourns death of fashion writer Anna Piaggi". London: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ Stuever, Hank (9 August 2012). "Fashion journalist Anna Piaggi, 81, was known for her unique style of clothing". The Washington Post.
Further reading
edit- Clark, Judith (editor). Anna Piaggi Fashion-ology. Victoria and Albert Museum, 2006. ISBN 0-9552335-0-X/ISBN 978-0-9552335-0-0.
- Lagerfeld, Karl. Lagerfeld's Sketchbook: Karl Lagerfeld's Illustrated Fashion Journal of Anna Piaggi. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988. ISBN 1-55584-019-1.