La Bella Vita di Federico Forquet

I was so happy to see the article on Mr. Federico Forquet in Sunday's NYTimes T magazine.  It offered a small but tantalizing glimpse into the beautiful world of Mr Forquet, a fashion designer who left fashion in 1972 when he no longer felt he could make the kind of clothes he wanted to (haute couture not pret a porter).  Oddly enough 1972 is the same year Cristobal Balenciaga, Forquet's mentor, also decided enough was enough and closed his doors too.

But when one door closes, another door opens and Mr. Forquet found the thousands of the tiny lily of the valley flowers he had once hand sewn onto a dress for the great beauty Allegra Caracciolo Agnelli, not in silk anymore but in a scented garden he designed in the verdant hills of Tuscany.

Mr. Forquet also designed the interiors of his home in Tuscany - as well as homes for friends like the apartment in Rome he recently decorated for Ginevra Elkann, the grandaughter of Marella Agnelli, which was featured in T magazine in February.

I have counted myself very fortunate to have had some very special, very rare, Forquet gowns from the 1960s at RARE vintage too...

A door opens onto the garden from the summer living room at Forquet's home near Cetona, Tuscany .  Note the beautiful gilded table with the ceramic vegetables near the door...

Forquet designed the wicker furniture, the sofa and the folding screen all of which are on a floor of cotto, a type of Italian brick, for the summer living room...

19th century still lifes and garden landscapes over a Neapolitan daybed Forquet inherited.  I love the sage and cream ticking on the daybed, the wicker chair, the simple white bench with a white cushion tied at the legs...

The master bedroom with its vine covered coverlet and a desk where Forquet drew his fashion sketches as a child.  Home and garden seem united, the view from a window or a door always seems to be framed in a shade of green, bringing the garden into the rooms...

The outdoor rooms of the garden...  isn't this terraced garden remarkably beautiful?!  The great Russell Page, suggested paths and walls of tuffo, a stone commonly found in Tuscany...

A pergola covered in roses and fallen petals on the path...

Federico Forquet's home and garden in Tuscany.  All photos from NYTimes.

and that is all of our glimpse into the private world and la bella vita di Federico Forquet...

love and baci, Juliana