CHARM AND CREATIVITY

The atelier on Via Tuscany grew and expanded in second half of the 1980s thanks to the creations of Fernanda Gattinoni’s son, Raniero, who provided the company with a major turning point in taking the first steps towards globalising the brand. The so-called “dream designer”, he was the author of significant pages in the history of the Italian look, thus entering the sartorial Who’s Who? as of right, as a creator who loved to transfer his dreams into his creations.

Raniero said that he started designing clothes as a joke. In the 1980s he began to create his own personal style of fashion: sometimes geometric, sometimes ornate, like embarking on a journey into the world of fantasy. And the playful aspect of his collections was always at the fore: the Little Match Girl, the Snow Queen, Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland were the protagonists of his fashion shows.

Alongside former fellow student Stefano Dominella, the latter as co-ordinator, he successfully planned an update of the fashion house, bringing in cutting- edge ideas and methods. In 1982, the first prêt-à-porter range was presented in Milan which, together with Yagi, opened the doors to Japan.

After the death of Raniero in November 1993, Stefano Dominella assumed the presidency of the historic fashion house, while the young Guillermo Mariotto, who was born in Caracas and started out as a designer at Gattinoni in 1988, became responsible for art direction, in close contact with Madame Fernanda.