Mariuccia Mandelli

(Krizia - Company - Kriziamaglia founded in Milan, Italy 1954)
Born 1933
The force and imagination behind Krizia comes from its creator, Mariuccia Mandelli, a former teacher who switched careers in 1954, beginning by selling skirts and dresses. She took the name Krizia after Critias, a Greek politician and poet commemorated in Plato's unfinished dialogue on women's vanity, a choice typical of the humour which she displays in her designs, notably her signature kits. Mandelli explained her distinctive style thus, 'There is often a sense of architecture in my clothing...one of my collections was inspired by the Chrysler Building.' Krizia's are always distinctive. Clever, lighthearted and often witty, they manage nonetheless to retain considerable grace and glamour. Historically, Krizia is noted for experimental construction and an irreverent approach to glamourous clothes, and was at one point dubbed 'Crazy Krizia' by the press. In 1967 she branched out into knitwear design and later into complete ranges of ready-to-wear clothes. In the 1970s Mandelli's signature animal motif began to feature each season on many garments. Mandelli showed her first collection in 1964, to wide critical acclaim, and has since won several awards, culminating in being honoured with the title Commendore of the Italian Republic in 1986. Krizia has become a giant of teh Milanese fashion scene, charting its own course with panache.

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