Gianfranco Ferré e Maria Luigia. Inattese assonanze

Created as part of the celebrations marking the bicentenary of the arrival in Parma of Marie Louise of Austria – former Empress of the French and Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla – the volume offers an original comparison between the most innovative of the great Italian fashion designers and the strong yet fragile duchess “who lived in an age greater than herself”.

Long fascinated by influential women in history, Gianfranco Ferré maintained a constant dialogue with past fashions throughout his career. Through evocative aesthetic resonances, the selected garments reveal how Ferré engages with Neoclassical culture, capturing the essence of dress from Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon’s first wife, to the “Good Duchess” Marie Louise, his second spouse.

Published in collaboration with the Gianfranco Ferré Foundation, the volume is structured into thematic chapters – Napoleon; Neoclassicism; Orientalism; Volutes; Crinoline and Rouches; Gathered Sleeves; White Shirts – which, through a rich selection of Haute Couture and Ready-to-Wear creations, illustrate these “unexpected resonances” between Ferré’s stylistic interpretations and the tastes, passions and sensibilities of Marie Louise and her era.

Introduced by texts by Laura Maria Ferraris and Rita Airaghi, the volume includes contributions by Alberto Nodolini, Anna Maria Stillo Castro and Gloria Bianchino.

Photos by Graziano Fantuzzi and Foto Glamour.