Designer spotlight: emilio pucci
We love a bit of fashion history, and this week’s designer spotlight hit a pretty close to home! We’re talking about Emilio Pucci, the “prince of prints”, “king of casual couture: designer and icon of 1960s Italian glamour. Did you know Pucci once lived in Portland?
Pucci was born in 1914 to one of the oldest noble families in Florence. An avid athlete, Pucci grew up skiing, playing tennis and racing cars. He even traveled to Lake Placid in 1932 with Italy’s Olympic skiing team.
Several years later, he returned to the US to study agriculture in Georgia. Unsatisfied with his program, he traveled west to ski. But with war brewing in Europe and no unable to access his funds, Pucci was stuck. He made a deal with the then president of Reed College, in south east Portland. In exchange for tuition, room, and board, he started and coached Reed’s ski team.
His first apparel designs were the team’s uniforms!
In 1947, he founded the Pucci fashion house and soon after opened his first boutique on the isle of Capri. With fans like Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Jackie Kennedy and Lauren Bacall, he helped turn Capri into a destination for the international jet-set.
He was known for his technicolor, kaleidoscopic prints, and for apparel that was wrinkle-resistant and easily packable.
Scroll down to see the vintage Pucci scarves we got in this week! (Vintage Pucci, approximately 16 x 16 inches, cotton, as-is, $65).
