Happy Birthday Emanuel Ungaro
Emanuel Ungaro has 77 candles on his birthday cake today.
Born in 1933 to Italian parents who had fled to France from Francavilla Fontana of because of the fascist Italian government. He once said he thought in French but laughed in Italian. When he was 22 he started working for the Balenciaga design house then moved to Courreges. At 32 he opened his own design house in Paris, with help from Sonia Knapp and Elena Bruna Fassio and four seamstresses. He later partnered with Salvatore Ferragamo and Bulgari to create a perfume company. In 2004 Mr. Ungaro sold his label to Asim Abdulla. The label itself is doing OK but the runway line has been struggling for years. The runway line got quite a bit of negative publicity this year after Lindsay Lohan was hired as an artistic design consultant. All hell broke loose with the head designer quitting, another designer trying to cobble a line together in just weeks, the line was panned, photos from the backstage weren’t pretty.
From 2000
From the 2008 line
Some vintage Ungaro shoes.
I could not find an online outlet that sells Ungaro shoes. To celebrate I will wear a bright orange outfit because Ungaro was well known in the 80s and legendary for his use of bright colors.
1 Comment
- Click Here to Speak Up
February 13, 2010 at 3:20 am, galligator said:
The Emmanual Ungaro tree branch shoes were a favorite of mine. One day, when I have the money, I will hunt them down & stalk them at auction until they are mine. Oh yes, they will be mine.