One of the doyens of Italian and world fashion is leaving: Renato Balestra, who died in Rome at the age of 98. Born in Trieste into a family of engineers and architects, Balestra approaches the world of fashion by chance, thanks to some of his friends who send one of his sketches to the Italian fashion centre. His talent emerges immediately and Balestra abandons his engineering studies. After his apprenticeship in Jole Veneziani's atelier in 1954 he moved to Rome, where he worked for Emilio Schubert, Maria Antonelli and the Fontana sisters. The costumes designed for actresses such as Ava Gardner, Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren.
Renato Balestra
In 1958 he presented his collections in the USA; his creations they conquer divas like Liz Taylor and Claudia Cardinale. The first atelier was born in Rome in via Gregoriana 36 in 1959 and in 1961 he presented his first haute couture collection in the National Gallery of Modern Art. The 'Blu Balestra' was born in these years: a bright blue that is still the symbol of the fashion house today. At the end of the 60s the brand was distributed in various parts of the world and its clothes were worn by first ladies, princesses and empresses. In 1978 the Balestra perfume arrives and other products follow. And he doesn't miss his clothes at the theater, so much so that he designs, among others, the costumes for 'Così è se vi pare' directed by Franco Zeffirelli and Rossini's Cinderella and for the musical Cinderella.
"With the death of Renato Balestra, our nation loses an excellence of style, doyen of high fashion and symbol of Italian genius in the world" writes Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Twitter. “Renato Balestra was a great figure in fashion: an innovator and a creative, the Blu Balestra is his invention. May this Italian pride in the world rest in peace,” he tweeted Daniela Santanchè, Minister of Tourism.
(Photo Adnkronos/ Commons Wikimedia)
