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Early Life
Simonetta Colonna di Cesaró was an Italian Fashion Designer and Socialite in the mid-nineties. Born in Rome on 10th April 1922, she was the daughter of intellectual & politically inclined Giovanni Antonio Colonna di Cesarò, Duke of Cesarò, and noblewoman of Russian origin Barbara dei Conti Antonelli. Her father was parliamentary deputy and Minister of Royal Posts and Telegraphs of the first Mussolini government and then later became special guard of the fascist regime after he resigned from his office position in 1924. At the age of 22, Simonetta was tried for attending a party along-side US diplomat Merrit Cootes who was waiting to be expelled from Italy. As Simonetta was only a minor, she was sentenced to fifteen days in a women’s prison in Rome and then further sentenced to internment of three years in two Aburzzo towns, however after three months her charges were dropped after pressure was applied by the Vatican and she was allowed to join her and mother and sister in Sorrento where she slowly began her progression into fashion design. With her father suspected of being the organizer of the attack on Benito Mussolini in 1926, Simonetta and her family were again taken prisoners by Mussolini’s government during the First World War.

Being descended from Russian autocracy she grew up in a highly sophisticated environment and would often travel across the globe and from her mother she learnt to speak several languages. Shortly after meeting her future husband Count Don Galeazzo Visconti di Mondrone in 1943 Simonetta was imprisoned again with her fiancé, her sister Mita and her fiancé in the April of 1944 for two months and later released in June 1944 when Rome was freed. Later that year Simonetta and Galeazzo were married

= Start of Fashion Career = In 1946, just after the liberation of Rome from their allies, Simonetta released her first collection at the family palace in Via Gregoriana Rome with only 14 models, with the materials consisting of every-day households item’s. In the short time after World War One most fashion materials were scarce and hard to supply. Simonetta’s first collection was forced to be made up of dish cloths, cooking and garden apron’s, strings and ribbon’s and everything that could be found on the market. Her first collection was heavily reported and appreciated by especially Italian but also foreign magazines. Her second collection which followed shortly after was made up of 18 models and included more evening dresses with more luxurious, elegant materials. Simonetta’s endurance and success of her first collection despite the conditions of Italy so close after the war shows the designers determination. This determination saw Simonetta Visconti internationally celebrated as a Fashion Designer in Vouge at the young age of Twenty-Four. In 1950 Simonetta met Alberto Fabiani, a renowned tailor for ladies’ suits and dresses. In 1951 they both took part in the first Italian Fashion Show organised by Giovanni Battista Giorgini at Villa Torrigiani in Florence and is considered to be the birth of Italian fashion. It was at this fashion show that Simonetta was offered a contract by the large chain of American Department stores Bergdorf Goodman for the creation of a women’s spring collection in 1951. The spring collection for Bergdorf Goodman was inspired by styles and colours of the tropics such as the Mediterranean and was a huge success, with one of her black evening dresses with a wide red skirt being the first Italian dress to be featured at the New York Fashion Group biennial fashion show. The dress was later to be worn by Simonetta herself in a photographic portrait piece for Harper’s Bazaar which then lead to her nickname of “The Glamorous Countess”. After her divorce to Galeazzo Visconti, Alberto Fabiani and Simonetta Visconti were married in 1952 and went on to her two children. Later that year she was also bestowed the Diploma of Merit, her first professional award from the Italian General Confederation of Commerce.

= Move to the American Market = In the following years Simonetta went on to sign multiple contracts with major American and Canadian Distribution Chains which was becoming as huge part of the mass marketing system of fashion with the offer of paper patterns. Along with other top designers such as her husband Alberto Fabiani, as well as Roberto Capucci, Marquis Emilio Pucci, Princess Marcella Borghese, Federico Forquet, Visconti managed to turn the attention of the world of fashion away from Paris and towards Rome where the use of innovative textiles, eye catching colour combinations and many in the American Market were drawn to the young innovative designer creating a renascence of the Italian fashion Industry. The buoyant silk cocktail dresses, elegant debutante dresses, and ball gowns Visconti created also held a special appeal to the American market with their emphasis on the bust areas and the young yet elegant theme. Just as popular were her sportwear lines and her daywear along with her coats which closely rivalled Balenciaga for their similar cut’s with precision and minimal detail to draw attention to the most important features. Simonetta’s coats seemed to favour cape-like sleeve’s that gave the coats a more dramatic twist, especially for Fashion Photography. The American Market was attracted to mobility and ease which saw Visconti adapt her designers to boost her popularity.

Famous Italian Filmmaker Federico Fellini helped Simonetta promote her Fashion line in his praised film La Dolce Vita and Joseph Mankiewicz's Barefoot Contessa. Other promotional techniques from Visconti saw the launch of her perfume ‘Incanto’ sold in both Italy and American along side other cosmetic products of the company and Simonetta’s Coats being featured in Vogue America for advertisements for the Cadillac and Chevrolet brands that is said to be the first luxury combination of clothes and engines. Marks & Spencer’s invited both Visconti and Alberto Fabiani to London in 1957 to present their collections and learn about the new techniques of the production of ‘ready-made packaging’. As a result, Fabiani and Visconti created the “Boutique Collection” that was solely based on practical and accessible models and was released in large quantities to the American Market, later followed by beachwear and ski-wear line. The simplification of all three lines saw Simonetta’s design fit well with the oncoming trend on the early Sixties, with designs such as the poncho and wide sleeves coming into trend.

Changing with the trends
From the years of 1962 to 1971 Simonetta and her Husband moved to Paris and created a private workshop names Simonetta Fabiani which saw huge success. The initiation of the salon commenced on 27th July 1962 with the release of their joint collection ‘Dauphan’. Though the pair initially received some criticism from the French press the fashion house was later celebrated by the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. In 1963 the salon closed down and though even though their collaboration was a success the couple released their preference from working in Rome and moved back to Italy in 1965. Throughout the sixties Simonetta was seen to dress important, high-end socialites and celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy. Simonetta’s modernising techniques saw her allow clients to have up to 3 fittings per dress, more for evening wear, rather than the traditional 5 or 6 fittings. Simonetta realized at that time that the world was changing, and that woman no longer had the time to devote to multiple fittings for each garment. Other clients included The Duchess of Windsor, Maria Calles and Leonor Fini were all good friends of hers as The Visconti fashion name became a household name among American and across the whole fashion globe.

Later Life
Photography was a huge promotional marketing strategy for the Visconti name and Simonetta was often photographed in her own clothing, which served to be some of the brand best modelling pieces. Visconti’s young elegance along with her youthful style becoming a trend amongst the American and Italian Fashion Industry’s and saw her and her husband’s elegant ballgown designs and luxuries coats take the world by storm with many describing the two of them, along with the Fontana sisters. The growth of the collection from a two-part playsuit with cummerbund and bloomer shorts to a silk shantung dress-suit with tiered collar to her short and long eveningwear demonstrate both Simonetta and Fabiana’s adapting design techniques that easily allowed the pair to fit into the ever changing trends of both the American and Italian Market and may be a Key element to the designers success among the world’s top socialites and royalty.It is widely stated that Simonetta Visconti’s fashion revolution paved the way for the likes of Valentino, Gucci, and Armani with archives of her work being held at the New York Public Library's Manuscripts and Archives Division.