A visit to Annamode one of the most important cinema and theatrical costume workshops in Europe photos by Angelo Cangani

Dear Shaded Viewers,

I spent a wonderful afternoon with Simone Bessi going through his amazing archives at  Annamode. The atelier Annamoda was the initiative of the Anna Allegri at the age of 25. Anna was from the upper class in Florence and designed for and dressed the Roman aristocracy. At the same time she started to work with the costume designers involved in the Neorealism of Italian cinema, Cinecitta. There were two separate workshops, one for the haute couture and the other for the cinema, opera and theatre. The workroom was frequented by the Sensani costume heritage, from Maria De Matteis to Piero Tosi who commissioned costumes from Annamode for many of the films that he created the costumes for  including "Le Notti Bianche" (1957) directed by Luchino Visconti, the plastic capes that were worn by the models in the fashion show beside the swimming pool in the Fellinian episode Toby Dammit of the collective film "Tre Passi nel Delirio" (1967), with designs by Tosi. I had our photographer, Angelo Cangani try on one of the Tosi plastic jackets. 

Can you just imagine  fittings rooms with actresses like Sophia Loren to Gina Lollobrigida, from Ingrid Bergman to Claudia Cardinale, from Charlotte Rampling to Liza Minnelli, a never-.ending list leading to stars of our time such as Maria Grazia Cucinotta and Scarlett Johansson, while one generation followed another both inside and outside the atelier. This is where the clothes worn by Charlotte Rampling in the Night Porter were made. More recently costumes for In to the Woods and The Grand Budapest Hotel were made here. Visit the site http://see.annamodecostumes.website/en/index.php?lang=en. Simone Bessi, is the grandchild of Anna Allegri and he is in the process of digitally archiving the huge inventory and if you want you can even order the same design that was worn by Sophia Loren or Charlotte Rampling and the workshop will try and come as close to the original material as possible. I visited the foundation, next time in Rome I will try to visit the actual workroom which is, I think, 2000 sq. feet or was it meters…huge at any rate. Currently Simone dreams to publish a book of this incredible cinema history so if you have any ideas for a publisher, please let him know. In the meantime enjoy Angelo Cangani's photos and the posters from some of the films with costumes made at Annamode.

Later,

Diane

mail: info@annamodecostumes.com web: www.annamodecostumes.com

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Diane Pernet

A LEGENDARY FIGURE IN FASHION and a pioneer of blogging, Diane is a respected journalist, critic, curator and talent-hunter based in Paris. During her prolific career, she designed her own successful brand in New York, costume designer, photographer, and filmmaker.

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