Ferre, Gianfranco

▪ 2008

 Italian fashion designer

born Aug. 15, 1944, Legnano, near Milan, Italy

died June 17, 2007, Milan

earned the nickname “L'architetto” (“architect of fashion”) after he applied his architecture degree (1969) from Milan's Polytechnic Institute to the design of sculptural, carefully constructed couture, ready-to-wear, and fashion accessories. He was particularly noted for women's business suits with bold, pronounced seams and for his trademark array of white blouses. Although Ferré launched his own ready-to-wear line in Milan in 1974, he triggered intense criticism throughout France in 1989 when he was named artistic director of the Paris fashion house Christian Dior. After being replaced at Dior by the edgier British designer John Galliano in 1996, Ferré focused on his creations for Gianfranco Ferré SpA, even after the eponymous fashion house that he founded in 1978 was sold in 2000 to an Italian holding company. Ferré died just days before he was to present his spring-summer 2008 menswear collection.

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