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Some fashion enthusiasts pride themselves on sporting the next new thing, others are content to salt a basic wardrobe with seasonal flourishes. And then there are those proud few who treat their very physiques as full-fledged works of art, covering themselves in color and pattern, joyously brandishing the unlikeliest combinations, proclaiming confidently with every outfit that more is indeed more.
Anna Piaggi, who passed away this morning in Milan at the age of 81, was one of these startling presences. Birdlike and delicate, surprisingly small in person, she could be spotted taking tiny steps to her front-row fashion-show seat, her ivory complexion almost kabuki-esque, her maquillage multihued, her cerulean coiffure topped by an extreme hat, often created by her friend Stephen Jones. Her tastes were wildly catholic—she was an inspiration for Karl Lagerfeld since the 1960s but also confessed an enthusiasm for the aprons worn by McDonald’s employees.
So renowned was her eccentric style that Piaggi, an editor and contributor to numerous fashion publications including Italian Vogue, was the subject of a 2006 exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum, “Anna Piaggi: Fashion-ology,” which showcased a selection from her vast private archives—everything from vintage Poiret to modern Fendi.
Bill Cunningham said of Piaggi, “I think she’s a poet with clothes, but a very fine poet,” but her artistry was hardly reserved for special occasions. Asked in 1998 if she dressed for work the same way she dressed for fashion shows, Piaggi replied, “Also for the supermarket. My life is quite normal. But I enjoy dressing all the time.”