Sorelle Fontana

Sorelle Fontana Alta Moda s.r.l. is a fashion house based in Rome, started by the three sisters Fontana (Sorelle Fontana) and specialized in high end fashion tailoring. These three strong and united women originally from Parma, learned their tailoring job with Mamma Amabile, their mother, in the small atelier inherited from their great grandmother, following the family tradition.

Soon the three sisters turned their notions into art working in their small Italian provincial town Parma. In 1937 Zoe, the eldest and most ambitious sister, thought that it was time to “take off” and aim for something bigger. She was unsure whether her destination should be Rome or Milan as both cities appealed to Zoe, so she let her instinct decide and caught the first train to Rome. In the city of the stars and of the rich aristocracy, Zoe immediately found a job in a large fashion house and a few months later the family was reunited again when her sisters Micol and Giovanna joined her. For a few years they worked for different fashion houses and during World War II they started off their own maison on Via Veneto, continuing the family tradition and developing their style.

One of their most important ideas was the use of printed cloth, which brought fashion to a new level and combined different worlds in a dress, perfect for the wealthy and sophisticated persons living and working in Rome. Soon after the war they started working for an expanding clientele, but mainly american actors, which immediately opened the doors to the bright and rich doors of Hollywood. In the following years they tailored suits and dresses for Linda Christian, Tyrone Power, Maria Pia di Savoia, Liz Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, Joan Collins, Ursula Andress, Soraya,  Ava Gardner and Anita Eckberg, just to name a few. They even worked for the great film director Federico Fellini as Costume designers.

The Sorelle Fontana were the first to feel the need to give fashion in Italy a look of its own, freeing it from foreign influence. With this spirit in mind, once they had conquered the Italian clientele, the Sorelle Fontana took their fashion abroad. In 1951 they went to the United States where their success was immediate. Soon their fashion was recognised in Europe, Japan, Africa and Asia.

In the following years, the Sorelle Fontana decided to produce a line of ready to wear fashion in parallel to their high fashion collection. Their objective was to offer a product which could be sold in prestigious shops to a larger market. In Italy their fashion lines included leather and brides. One of the major successes for the Sorelle Fontana came when they celebrated 20 years of activity and collaboration with Japan.

The legacy of the Sorelle Fontana is immense, especially for Italy, creating the high end “Made in italy” value and opening the doors for all the future fashion designers that made and still make the italian style world famous. You can find the creations of the Sorelle Fontana even in museums like the Guggenheim and Metropolitan in New York and in The Louvre in Paris.

Today you can still find their atelier on Piazza di Spagna and their fashion brand has expanded also to the younger generations with MicolBoutique, an easy pret-a-porté for the new generations.

Sorelle Fontana Alta Moda S.r.l.