Sorelle Fontana


Sorelle Fontana is an Italian fashion house, specializing in production of high-fashion couture.
It was founded in Rome in 1943 by three sisters and Italian designers: Zoe Fontana, Micol Fontana and Giovanna Fontana.

History

Born in Traversetolo, Parma, the three Fontana sisters started working as dressmakers with their mother at a very young age. They later moved to Rome where they first made some apprentice in other tailorings and sewed clothes at home. In 1943 the sisters founded a high fashion atelier in Via Liguria. The turning point of their career happened in 1949, when Linda Christian bought a Fontana dress for her wedding with Tyrone Power. From then their brand gradually raised in the international jet set, and they dressed many celebrities and also several heads of state, notably Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Queen Soraya, Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Frederica of Hanover, Anita Ekberg and Joan Collins.
In 1953, they founded with many famous fashion designers including Alberto Fabiani, Vincenzo Ferdinandi, Emilio Schuberth, Jole Veneziani, Giovannelli-Sciarra, Mingolini-Guggenheim, Eleanora Garnett, Simonetta Colonna di Cesarò, the S.I.A.M. - Italian High Fashion Syndicate.
In 1972, while continuing their production, they withdrew from official events of high fashion. After selling the company and the brand to an Italian financial group in 1992, in 1994 Micol created the Micol Fontana Foundation.
A two-parts television miniseries based on the story of the fashion house, Atelier Fontana - Le sorelle della moda, was broadcast on Rai 1 in 2011.