The king of white shirts, the world has ever known!
Gianfranco Ferre was born on the 15th of August 1944 in a northern Italian province called Legnano. His birth date falls on the same date as that of the French General and Emperor, Napolean Bonaparte. He and his brother were brought up by his mother and two aunts who were real perfectionists. This had a great deal of influence on his life and career.

He studied architecture. He looks at fashion design just the way one would to design a building, with utmost care to structure, form and balance. He was also known as ‘Frank Lloyd Wright of Italian fashion’ that was in comparison to the great American architect.

When he was a qualified architect, he had to support himself in the initial days by making belts. He then got his first job in a design studio for a furniture company. At leisure, he designed some jewelry for one of his girlfriends. This was noticed by the boutique owners in Portofino. They were very impressed and asked him to design some jewelry for Walter Albini. Albini was a successful and well known designer of garments made of luxurious fabrics and silk. Ferre then started working for Fiorucci and Lagerfeld as a freelance designer.

Ferre’s Ventures
He traveled to India during the early 70s. He then moved on with his career in fashion designing starting with accessories. He then designed raincoats for about two years from 1972 to 1974. Gianfranco spent about three years in India. There he was able to study more about crafts. The vibrant colors and craftsmanship left a great impression on him. He took out time traveling places in India and also giving advice to the fashion industry there. The brilliant country with all its tradition, crafts, culture and color was an experience in itself.

When Ferre returned to Italy, he met Franco Mattioli, who owned a faltering cloth house. Mattioli wanted Ferre to do the design work for him. And the same year in 1974, Ferre brought out the first ready-to-wear collection for women under the label ‘Baila.’ After four years of designing, Ferre wanted to introduce his own label. 50% of the partnership was given to Mattioli. Ferre presented his Oaks line ready-to-wear for women collection in 1978. The garments reflected the free spirits of Sportswear. Then in the year 1982, his first menswear collection was presented. This was followed by the first couture collection in Rome in 1986. The President of Italy named him the Commander of the Italian Republic in the same year. He also launched a studio called OOI with his new line and his collections in fur.

The Domus Academy for fashion in Milan, Italy was fortunate enough to have Ferre as a professor of fashion there. By 1984, he was named as the Designer of the Year. The award for the womens ready-to-wear collection was awarded to him for five years in succession by the international trade press.

In 1989, Ferre was chosen by Bernard Arnault to take the place of Marc Bohan as the Stylistic Director of Christian Dior in Paris in 1989. He was able to capture the spirit of Dior and interpret designs in a fresh and modern manner. While in process, he was able to maintain the elegance and details that defined the haute couture. He continued creating clothes on his own label during this time. But by 1996, there was an announcement that stated that Ferre was to end his association with Dior. During this year, he presented his Jeans line.

Ferre opened a Jeans Boutique in Rome in 1997 and another boutique in Milan called the Gieffeffe. A ‘Ferre Week’ was organized in Tokyo where he held an exhibition of costumes of the 18th and 19th century. He also opened boutiques in Geneva and in U.S. Some duty-free shops were also opened. He continues to produce his couture collections, fur collections, ready-to-wear for men and women, the Oaks and Jeans collections, Studio collection for Marzotto Europe's biggest textile giant, 11 over lines and 15 licenses. Bergdorf Goodman in New York alone sells more than $1 million per year of his clothes. He also launched his children's collection, fragrance for men and women, watch and jewelry lines.

Ferre is extremely serious about his fashion gestures and trends. He deals with his schedules in a responsible manner and tends to be responsible for being the number one in the world of fashion. He even travels from Milan to Paris and back in his private plane. He resides at his beautiful lakeside home beside Lake Maggiore in Milan.

Ferre was a passionate traveler and travels to many countries every year. He enjoys spending some time at his house beside Lake Maggiore close to Milan.

The Ferre Style
The women who wear his clothes are pictured by him as brilliant, scintillating, dark-haired and moving. He also likes his models to be dressed in asymmetric, restrained and feminine curved lines.

His clothes usually are created in bright colors and strong shapes. His collections are testimonial to the fact that his early days of study was indeed of careful and detailed analysis. They are a statement to his powerful and intellectual creative designs. He is also celebrated for his use of strong colors, red, white, black and gold. He also uses extravagant fabrics like leather, fur and taffeta. He sometimes also adds fun to his clothing as the dress made of cane for his Spring collection 2000.

His most favorite one is the white blouse. He like to various designs on it. He is well-known for the way in which he sculpts white silk, cotton and organza into a variety of shapes. Now, the simple white shirt has been transformed into something far from the normal modest shirt. He even uses lace ruffles, beaded cuffs and collars that fly like birds and cut loose sleeves that billow. He is also known as the king of white shirts.

Fashion is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is for Ferre!