Marchesa Luisa Casati

[KKnardi]

adorable! thanx for the smal article about her and her lifestyle.

 

[muza]

Does anyone know where I can find the amazing editorial of Carine Roitfeld as Casati shot by Karl Lagerfeld? It appeared in the Sept. 22, 2003 issue of the New Yorker... I lost my copy and I have been looking for it desperately...

 

[Frenger.]

She was a famous Icon in the 18th/19th century.

An itallian millionaire born in 1881. When her father died She and her sister inherited all his money and were the richest women in Itally for a period of time. She is well known for being very eccentric, wearing very different clothing. She worse live snakes as jewlery and collected exotic animals and could be seen walking down the street naked with her Pet cheetahs, on leashes with diamonds on them.

Somehow she was in debt 25 million dollars in 1930 and auctioned off her belongings. Amongst the bidders was Coco Chanel.

She moved away from Italy to live in London, and could be seen rummaging through bins for feathers to decorate her clothes.


Just a very interesting lady that i stumbled across somehow, and thought I would share with you all if you didnt already know who she was or didnt know much about her.

She has been the inspiration for many collections, cannot quite recall them all but Dior was one of them.


An oilpainting of her. from marchesacasati.com




***** Edited ... Image deleted per request from copyright holder to remove content. ****

1972 ;Marisa Berenson dressed as the Marchesa Luisa Casati

from flickr

 

[Frenger.]

Somehow she was in debt 25 million dollars in 1930 and auctioned off her belongings. Amongst the bidders was Coco Chanel.

She moved away from Italy to live in London, and could be seen rummaging through bins for feathers to decorate her clothes

 

[uj12345]

i ordered the book like 3 days ago too.
after i read it i might go and visit her grave as i live in london.
hm and i hope that its not "dry"!

 

[KKnardi]

^the book is really a great and interesting read! I bought my copy in berlin!

marchesacasati.com

 

[mermaidsandcats]

So, would "Infinite Variety" be the best book written about her?

Or should I go with "The Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse"?

amazon

 

[Suzanne]

I'd go for Portraits of a muse (I own it as well) as the images speak for themselves. It's much more powerful than Infinite Variety. You won't be disappointed! It's one of the best books I own actually!

 

[KKnardi]

^yeah, it's certainly more visual. but I would buy both! one for the story and the other for the pictures.

 

[mermaidsandcats]

Thanks for the help! I don't want to buy both, I am not much of book collector and I don't want to own "coffee table" books . So because I would love to read more about her and see a few well selected pictures I think I will get Infinite Variety.


And something I stumbled upon:

Marchesa Casati – A dash of eccentricity

Earlier we’ve blogged about how art inspires fashion, but how about when the artistic inspiration is a person – a muse? One such person, the Marchesa Luisa Casati, has inspired many writers, painters and also fashion designers.

The Marchesa was born into a wealthy Austrian-Italian family in Milan in 1881. A patron of coutouriers such as Paul Poiret, Mariano Fortuny and Erté and jewellers like Lalique, Casati astonished European society for the first three decades of the 20th century with her eccentric personality and outrageous style. In his autobiography Erté described her as the “the most extravagantly odd woman I have ever met”. She would wear living snakes as jewellery, throw parties where her servants were covered in leafed gold from top to toe and parade her pet cheetahs around in Venice on leashes covered with gold and diamonds whilst wearing nothing but a fur coat. Her hair was a dyed a deep henna red, her skin powdered pale white and her eyes heavily kohled.

The Marchesa painted by Augustus John to the left. Carina Roitfeld as Casati, photographed by Karl Lagerfeld.

he wasn’t only an inspiration to her contemporaries, more than 50 years after her death she still continues to inspires artists and fashion designers alike. In 2003 the New Yorker wrote an article about the Marchesa. The photograph of Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld dressed as Casati was taken by none other than Karl Lagerfeld. The article also featured sketches by Lagerfeld inspired by Luisa Casati.

Chanel resort collection 2010

The Marchesa also seems to have been one of the main inspirations for Lagerfeld’s resort collection for Chanel 2010. The show was held in Venice, a place which was home to Casati for a large part of her life. The models’ hair and makeup was clearly inspired by her signature look.
Another designer who cites the Marchesa as a major influence is John Galliano. His extravagant haute couture show for Dior in 1998 was inspired by her and cost 2 million dollars to stage. The show was held at Opéra Garnier in Paris and the setting was inspired by the Marchesa’s lavish soirées.

Galliano for Dior Couture 1998

Galliano was also inspired by Casati when he launched his debut fragrance in 2008. The design of the flasque is inspired by this portrait of Casati, painted by Giovanni Baldini.

For his autumn/winter 2004/05 collection, which was named ”a dash of eccentricity”, Armani named Visconti’s movie The Damned, La Belle Époque and the Marchesa as his main influences.

Armani autumn/winter 2004/05

She was also the main inspiration behind Tom Ford’s spring/summer 2004 collection for Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche.

Yves Saint Laurent, spring/summer 2004

The Marchesa is also the theme of a recent editorial shoot in Acne Paper’s fall/winter issue. The shoot features Tilda Swinton and was shot by Paolo Roversi.

Tilda Swinton as the Marchesa in the autumn/winter 2009 number of Acne Paper

Casati was once quoted saying “I want to be a living work of art”. Throughout her life, she tried to commision her own immortality by patronizing some of the biggest artists of her time. When looking back at how she still manages to inspire people to this day, I would say that her quest was successful.

// Fade to #C5C5C5

 

[mermaidsandcats]

Another designer inspired by Marchesa


liz parry

 

[educo]

I'm so sad that this thread is not as alive as it should be..we need more people like her beautifying and frightening the world. I'm currently reading Infinite Variety and it's inspiring me to live a more decadent life, since that word isn't really used these days...

 

[KKnardi]

^well, it's quite an another world nowadays compared with her day. but I do believe we still can learn a lot from her legacy...

 

[educo]

^well, it's quite an another world nowadays compared with her day. but I do believe we still can learn a lot from her legacy...

Yes it's another world, but there is still money being spent..more now than then. It's just we lack these kind of personalities now. They are few and far in between.

 

[silk skin paws]

I agree that there's not much decadence anymore. Just by looking at the examples Marchesa definitely had a huge impact on fashion.