Mila Schoen | Italian designer, 91
Mila Schoen, 91, an Italian designer of elegant, impeccably tailored clothes, died yesterday at her country villa in northern Italy. She began her career in 1958 working in an high-fashion atelier in Milan. Eight years later she opened her own boutique, on Milan's Via Montenapoleone, one of the city's most chic shopping streets. Her designs were timeless expressions of quiet elegance and led to her being dubbed the "Signora of elegance." Her Milan fashion house described her vision of clothes as one of "luxury without glitter." Many of society's well-heeled women, in Italy and abroad, wore her creations, including Jacqueline Kennedy. Ms. Schoen's smart suits and dresses, with careful attention to color and line, were popular choices for cocktail gatherings and garden parties. Her designs were a favorite for La Scala opera-house gala premieres among Milanese women enjoying the boom years of Italy's economy in the 1960s. In the age of jet-setters, Ms. Schoen designed a sharp-looking uniform, complete with sober-looking hats, for flight attendants for Alitalia, Italy's flagship airline. As her career progressed, her creations grew more geometric, even futuristic looking, and were considered fashion-world examples of cubism. - AP
Mila Schoen, 91, an Italian designer of elegant, impeccably tailored clothes, died yesterday at her country villa in northern Italy.
She began her career in 1958 working in an high-fashion atelier in Milan. Eight years later she opened her own boutique, on Milan's Via Montenapoleone, one of the city's most chic shopping streets.
Her designs were timeless expressions of quiet elegance and led to her being dubbed the "Signora of elegance." Her Milan fashion house described her vision of clothes as one of "luxury without glitter."
Many of society's well-heeled women, in Italy and abroad, wore her creations, including Jacqueline Kennedy. Ms. Schoen's smart suits and dresses, with careful attention to color and line, were popular choices for cocktail gatherings and garden parties.
Her designs were a favorite for La Scala opera-house gala premieres among Milanese women enjoying the boom years of Italy's economy in the 1960s.
In the age of jet-setters, Ms. Schoen designed a sharp-looking uniform, complete with sober-looking hats, for flight attendants for Alitalia, Italy's flagship airline.
As her career progressed, her creations grew more geometric, even futuristic looking, and were considered fashion-world examples of cubism.
- AP