Born: Born: Legnano, Italy, 1944
Famously compared with Frank Lloyd Wright, Gianfranco Ferre has a rotund physique and aesthetic sensibility. His grandfather designed bicycles and his father was the owner of two factories. Ferre originally trained as an architect at Milan Polytechnic, graduating in 1969. His favourite architectural triumphs include the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and the Torre Velasca in Milan. Ferre's first official show was presented in a restaurant in Via San Murillo, Milan, in 1974. Four years later came his first collection, `Gianfranco Ferre Donna', followed by a menswear line in 1982.
A doer rather than a talker, since 1983 Ferre has been a professor at the Domus Academy in Milan and financed the restoration of sixteenth-century frescoes. His intellectual approach and sensitivity to form and outline produces powerful designs - such as his voluminous organza shirts - as well as immaculate tailoring. In 1989, Ferre was appointed artistic director at Christian Dior, and his first collection - which he was told he had nine weeks to complete - occurred in the same year. With Grace Jones and Princess Michael of Kent in the front row, Ferre's first show for Dior was dedicated to Cecil Beaton's Ascot scene in My Fair Lady (1964), and featured Ferre's speciality - huge bows. It was described by Vogue as `a matter of Dior discipline and Ferre flourish'. He was awarded Paris fashion's highest accolade, the Golden Thimble, on the final day of the collections.
Ferre continued with his own collection, and his career after leaving Dior in 1996 has included diffusion lines Ferre Sport, Ferre Jeans, Ferre Studio and Studio 000.1, as well as an experimental line, GIEFFEFFE.
