Emanuel Ungaro

Famous for his bright floral designs, Emanuel Ungaro opened his own boutique in Paris and never looked back. Know worldwide, he expanded into menswear, accessories and fragrances.

Emanuel Ungaro-Early Years

Emanuel (Maffeolit) Ungaro was born on February 13, 1933 to Italian parents, in Aix-en-Provence in France. His parents had fled to France from Brindisi, Italy because of the fascist Italian government. To this day, he has not forgotten his roots, "I think in French, but I laugh in Italian."

As a young boy, Emanuel Ungaro took to sewing like his father and trained to join the family tailoring business. Instead moved to Paris at the age of 22 (in 1955), and worked for a small tailoring firm. Three years later, he began designing for the House of Cristobal Balenciaga for three years. He later quit to work for Courrèges where he designed many of the 60's metal outfits of that house. Courreges was a leading couturier of the 60's and Ungaro's designs were very popular.


Ungaro on his Own

In 1965, Emanuel Ungaro opened his own fashion house in Paris, with Sonia Knapp designing his fabrics. With 40 square meters and four seamstresses, Ungaro quickly imposed his sense of colour, structure, and fashion on the international fashion scene. He used music as his inspiration. So his designs are created to an accompaniment of classical music in his salon. This has led to his genius for draping and flowing gowns. His Italian upbringing and love of the country side, has led to his use of a wide range of colours. These are bright, floral, and scintillating. In 1968, he created his first pret-a-porter collection, Parallèle and opened a flagship boutique at 2, avenue Montaigne in Paris. During the next 30 years, the Emanuel Ungaro House expanded to include boutiques and licensing agreements worldwide. He attained the Neiman Marcus Award in 1969.


Emanuel Ungaro-Expansion Years

Within a few decades, Ungaro’s line would be known across several continents and come to encompass menswear, accessories, and several fragrances. Ladies flocked to his door for the precision cut and body-skimming silhouettes he used to flatter most figures. Ungaro launched his first menswear collection “Ungaro Uomo”, in 1973, and his first perfume, Diva, 10 years later in 1983. The design of the bottle was inspired by one of his draped garments. Diva was followed by another fragrance, Senso, in 1987.


The 80s

During the 80's Emanuel Ungaro progressed to blooming of forms. He liked dresses which impose themselves by the sheer beauty of the volume they created. Color had a large influence on him and his palette moved across the spectrum. In 1980 and 1981, Ungaro received the Golden Thimble Award for his contributions to fashion. At the age of 55, he married Florentine-born, Laura Bernabei, in 1988. He published his book Emanuel Ungaro, Paris, with Yves Navarre during that year as well.


Ungaro in the 90s

In the 90's Emanuel Ungaro has maintained his own style, but also moved out into lacy and feminine designs, as well as using animal prints for many dresses, in combination with laces. Several of his outfits used geometric prints as well as intricate embroidery inspired by historic clothes. He has been assisted by his wife, Laura, in recent years.

He continued with his collection of perfume and cologne with Ungaro and Emanuel Ungaro For Men, both in 1991. Ungaro published his second book Emanuel Ungaro, with Frederico Fellini, in1992. And, among his other accomplishments, was theDallas Fashion Award which he received in 1995 and again in 1996.


Ungaro Parfums

In 1996, he formed a partnership with Salvatore Ferragamo, took over financial control of the Emanuel Ungaro house. And in 1997, both joined forces with another fashion powerhouse, Bulgari, to create a new company: Emanuel Ungaro Parfums. The new perfumes to follow were Fleur de Diva in 1997, Desnuda in 2001, and Apparition in 2004. The year 1998 saw the launch of a collection of Emanuel Ungaro footwear and handbags produced by Salvatore Ferragamo.


Recognition and Change

He was the first fashion designer asked to address Oxford Union in 2001. Ungaro also decided to step aside in 2001, though he still had a creative say. And although, he continues to design couture for his house to this day, his last ready-to-wear was showcased in Spring 2002. The design reins have rested with Giambattista Valli who was trained by Ungaro and has worked with Roberto Capucci, Fendi and Krizia before joining Ungaro in 1997.

Giambattista Valli announced, in October 2004, that he would be leaving the house of Ungaro and starting up his own label. The house of Ungaro announced that the new ready-to-wear designer would be Vincent Darre, who has worked with Prada, Chloe and Fendi, and was the chief designer at Moschino since 2002.


Retirement and New Era

In 2005 the brand Emanuel Ungaro announced that it was to be sold to Pakistan-born internet tycoon, Asim Abdullah, head of Global Asset Capital Investment Bank. At the time, the total wholesale revenue of products sold under the Ungaro label was approximately € 70 million. After the announcement, Emanuel Ungaro publicized his retirement from designing.

For fall 2006, the house tapped Norwegian Peter Dundas, who had previously worked chez Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, and Roberto Cavalli.

Ungaro can look back and see he had indeed accomplished his goal of "seducing the woman."


Sources

http://www.infomat.com/whoswho/emanuelungaro.html

http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/emanuelungaro/

http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9513510

http://www.designerhistory.com/historyofashion/ungaro.html

http://www.msstate.edu/school/humansciences/HistoricCostumes/page9.htmlhttp://www.answers.com/topic/emanuel-ungaro



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