M as Mila (Hardcover)

Born in Dalmatia in 1919, Mila Schon's innate taste and class, and most importantly, firm determination took her into the world of fashion. She began by designing clothes for her friends, the wealthy ladies of the Milanese bourgeoisie. She opened her first small atelier in 1958 and seven years later, in 1965, made her debut on the prestigious Florentine 'pret-a-porter' catwalks in the legendary Sala Bianca of Palazzo Pitti. In 1966 she conquered America, where she received the Neimann Marcus Award, the fashion Oscar, and was then the first Italian fashion designer to arrive in Japan. Unlike French fashion featuring Dior's corolla forms and Balenciaga's volumetric constructions, simple and clear-cut lines dictated Mila Schon's style. She studied new materials and they became her trademark, such as the double face combining two fabrics. Mila Schon dressed members of the international jet set such as Jacqueline Kennedy and Marella Agnelli. One recurrent theme in all her creations - and that also features in the splendid photographs in this book, most previously unpublished and from the Schon archives and the designer's private collection - is the relationship between artistic research and design: waves, concentric coloured circles and inlays inspired by the work of modern artists such as Mondrian, Calder, Klimt and Pollock.