A tall, blonde, blue-eyed 90-year-old Italian model is one of the stars of Rome Fashion Week, which kicked off Monday.
Former equestrian champion Amalia Borgnino, who is still stunning despite her age, showed off designer Alessandro Consiglio's latest haute couture creation on Tuesday. It is an ivory white trouser-suit designed for an elderly bride.
The suit's jacket has a four-meter long lace train hand-made by seamstresses who are expert in the embroidery techniques used at the start of the 20th century. Borgnino, who was born in China to Italian parents, displayed great elegance and agility in modelling such a challenging outfit.
"Like the suit, the model had to cross a century and show her unchanged youth, not in her face, but in her ability to wear a dress that encompasses fashion's relationship with the vices and virtues of the times," said Consiglio.
Borgnino is 1.78-metres tall and takes enormous care with her appearance, meticulously making up and dying her hair blond regularly. Consiglio is considered an inventive designer, famous for using unconventional materials in his clothes.
Past creations include an outfit made with wood chippings, a shirt produced with material from broken umbrellas and a dress completely made out of cigarettes butts. The latter was presented with the model made up to look like a corpse in order to give a clear message about the dangers of smoking.
Although Milan is Italy's fashion capital, Rome also has a lively haute couture scene. Rome Fashion Week (Alta Roma Alta Moda) usually focuses on exciting, up-and-coming Italian designers and stylists from developing countries, while the Milanese showcase tends to concentrate on industry big guns, like Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and Versace.
This year's Roman shows started off by paying homage to Italy's World Cup-winning soccer team, with designer Fausto Sarli dressing models in the red, white and green of the national flag.
"Viva Italia. Let's hope Italy beats France in the fashion World Cup too," said Stefano Dominella, the president of the Alta Roma association, which organizes the event. Fashion is one of the mainstays of the Italian economy. The industry posted a sector trade surplus of 8.7 billion euros in 2005, according to government figures.
