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

Master of Couture: David Pedroza

I am thrilled and excited to announce my first contributing editor to the RARE vintage blog, David Pedroza, whose monthly column will be called Master of Couture.  David understands the inner mysteries of haute couture like no one else I have ever met and, not only, is he a devotée of haute couture and fashion history but he also creates beautiful, old school, French haute couture by his own self-trained petits mains.  

He is very opinionated as a Master should be and it is always an honor and an enlightenment to listen to him speak about the complex subtleties of vintage haute couture and that is how we came up with the idea of his writing a monthly column for RARE vintage.

Read on...

Forquet and his Gold Dress.

When Federico Forquet designed this graphic pattern, lamé gown, the whole concept of design relied on the beauty and integrity of the fabric.  Federico Forquet favored bold, geometric prints that had become popular in the 1960s, especially among Italian designers such as Emilio Pucci, Princess Irene Galitizine and Simonetta.

The blouson sheath silhouette is the perfect back drop to the beautiful, yarn-died, woven, graphic pattern of silk and metal lamé fabric, most likely woven in Como Italy.  Don't expect this quality of fabric to be hanging on the racks of Bergdorf Goodman.

Although simple in shape, the dress is meticulously constructed.  Mr. Forquet was one of the darlings of the Italian Alta Moda, or haute couture, during his brief career when he opened his own atelier in 1962 until 1971 when he closed his house to focus on interior and garden design.  Having been trained by Balenciaga, he applied the art of haute couture workmanship into every piece he made, no matter how simple.

The rich lamé fabric is backed, not lined, in silk organza, to be soft against the skin, while keeping the grain and structure on the outer shell.

The hallmarks of of haute couture finishing, such as, hand-over-cast edges, grosgrain waist stays, and hand stitched facings are all integrated in this seemingly simple dress.

The top of the dress is cut on the bias, which allows ease and softness without the aid of seams, ties at the lower back, making this dress effortless and easy to wear.  What I found most interesting was the hem, which has been stiffened with nylon crinoline, and partially lined in China silk, to keep its shape and fall away from the body ending in a slight train.

Any woman with means and the life style on the search for a hostess ensemble would flock to Forquet for simple day dresses, pajamas, coats and evening dresses that reflected a happy and vivacious lifestyle.  To this day, this dress has the same appeal it did nearly fifty years ago and would still be the most perfect hostess ensemble to entertain your guests at home.

David Pedroza

Master of Couture

1966 Federico Forquet Lamé Gown available for purchase at RARE vintage.  

info@rarevintage.com or phone 212.581.7273

*I am always interested in purchasing any pieces by the great Italian couturier Federico Forquet for RARE vintage, please feel free to email or phone, if you have a piece you would like to part with.

Merry Christmas from RARE vintage Bazaar Dec 1968

A very Merry Christmas from RARE vintage and from the pages of the December 1968 Harper's Bazaar!!  

I have been a lucky man.  To feel the intimacy of brothers is a marvelous thing.  To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life.  But to feel the affection that comes across from those whom we do not know, who are watching over our dream and solitude, over our dangers and weaknesses - that is something still greater and more beautiful because it widens our boundaries of our being, and unites all living things.  PABLO NERUDA

detail from a figure of Christ in Mexico

Snow White

Lean swept mink overcoat.  Luxuriously sportif in cut.  By Fernando Sanchez for Revillon.