Born: Granada, Spain, 1871
Died: Venice, Italy, 1949
Mariano Fortuny was a visionary, Renaissance man and creator of revolutionary fabrics. His Delphos gown, devised in 1907 and patented two years later, was a masterpiece of fabric and form: a free-flowing revelation in a period of restriction, made from a tube of pleated silk. In one stroke of genius, Fortuny embodied the principles of the aesthetic and rational dress movements, whose supporters relentlessly campaigned for the abolition of torturous corsetry. His dresses were drawn on Greek lines, suspended from the shoulder and later decorated with Venetian glass beads. `This invention is related to a type of garment derived from the Classical robe,' stated Fortuny's original patent description, `but its design is so shaped and arranged that it can be worn and adjusted with ease and comfort.'
Son of a distinguished Spanish painter, Fortuny came to Venice when his mother, Cecilia de Madrazo, moved to the seventeenth-century Palazzo Martinengo after his father's death. Fortuny was a natural-born textile designer, producing Knossos printed scarves from 1906, opening a showroom for the sale of textiles and clothing in Venice and establishing his own factory for printing fabrics in 1919. Fortuny's talents were not limited to his most famous invention: he developed techniques of printing and over-painting on velvets and cottons, photographed stunning panoramic views of Venice and even invented a new kind of photographic paper. In all, he was an incredible sculptor, artist, stage designer, scientist and chemist - refining and reinventing everything he touched, from theatrical sets to lighting.
The most sensitive colourist of the twentieth century, Fortuny often dipped lengths of silk several times to achieve the precise tone. His perfectionism knew no bounds. Together with the standard Delphos design, Fortuny also patented his pleating methods: the intricacies remain a mystery, but in layman's terms this involved a complicated and arduous process of running the irregular, horizontal folds of silk between copper plates and ceramic tubes.
The Fortuny Museum, in the Palazzo Pesaro, Venice, stands as a monument to Italy's most notable fashion genius. Timeless and modern in the truest sense of the word, Fortuny designs were featured in Vogue in 1927 and again almost 50 years on - its advocates spanned half a century, from Isadora Duncan to Julie Christie. Unlike most wearable antiques, original Fortuny's have not disintegrated with time. Still mesmerizing and stunning in the flesh, Fortuny gowns are worn, collected and lusted after - an amazing feat after almost a century in circulation.
