Fortuny was founded by Mariano Fortuny a Spanish Artist who after his father’s death moved with his family to Paris. In Paris he grew his interest in art, science and technology.
Later on the Fortuny’s family moved to Venice where Mariano Fortuny lived for the rest of his life. Venice has always been motive of inspiration for Mariano Fortuny art.
In 1906 the creation of Knossos Scarf marks the beginning of Mariano Fortuny’s fashion work. At first the scarf was created for the theatre but soon became a fashion accessory.
Since then the Fortuny fashion production grew. Mariano’s fashion design is simple and it’s made only with high quality fabrics.
Delphos is one of Mariano’s masterpieces. As the title suggests Delphos is a gown inspired by ancient Greece and it was described by Marcel Proust as “faithfully corresponding to the antique model and very original.”
In Venice Mariano Fortuny worked at first at Palazzo Pesaro degli Orfei, todays Museo Fortuny.
In the ‘30s a New York intern designer, Elsie McNeill saw Fortuny fabrics in Paris and soon after she became Fortuny’s exclusive American distributor opening a shop in Madison Avenue, New York.
In 1949 after Fortuny’s death, Elsie McNeill who married and became Countess Gozzi took over the factory supervising all aspects of production and creating new design works.
In the late ‘80s the company was purchased by Maged Riad while the Countess kept on managing the production. After her death, Fortuny became fully propriety of the Riad family and today Fortuny is run by Maged’s sons Mickey and Maury.
The factory is located in Giudecca in the same place of the showroom and is surrounded by a beautiful garden. The factory still produces fabrics, furniture and accessories.
The visits of Fortuny showroom are planned
5th October from 18:30 to 20:00 to book a visit: www.eventbrite.it
8th October from 11:00 to 12:30
Giudecca, 805, 30133 Venezia VE
Telephone: 041 528 7697
Website: fortuny.com
