Vittoria Marisa Schiaparelli Berenson!

Marisa Berenson seated in the back seat of a Rolls Royce, wearing a Chanel pant suit, photographed by Arnaud de Rosnay, 1969

Berenson was born in New York, the eldest of two daughters. Her father was an American career diplomat, her mother, known as Gogo Schiaparelli was a socialite of Italian, Swiss, French, and Egyptian ancestry. Berenson's maternal grandmother was the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.  Her younger sister, Berinthia, became a model, actress, and photographer known as Berry Berenson, she tragically died in the first plane crashing in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.  Marisa is also a great-grandniece of art expert Bernard Berenson, so obviously art, fashion, culture are the true background of her life.

Wearing a  brocade dress with matching long stole by Sophie, photographed by Irving Penn, for Vogue, 1965  in the New York apartment of Vincent Fourcade (French interior designer who once said: “Outrageous luxury is what our clients want”  and founder of Denning & Fourcade with his life partner Robert Denning).

 

In white lace top and a loosely pleated skirt by Valentino, photographed by Henry Clarke for Vogue, 1968. The floor is Art Deco concrete glazed hexagonal tiles, so fashionable in the 1920’s and 1930’s and luckily still preserved in many European houses.

In a white organza dress embroidered in flowers with plisse on the sleeves by Valentino, photographed by Henry Clarke, Vogue 1968. The diagonal pattern on the floor is very graphic and greatly contrasting with the antique furniture and the contemporary art piece leaning on the sofa.

A 1970 photograph taken by her sister Berry.

Wearing a colorful silk dress by Gino Charles, in the Op Art style of the Sixties,

photographed by Irving Penn for Vogue ,1967.

With Emilio Pucci’s bags, photographed by Bert Stern for Vogue, 1965.

Look at those eyes!

A beautiful photograph by Bert Stern for Vogue, 1965. She is so fresh and young!

But Marisa Berenson is known not just as an icon of beauty and fashion of the 60’s and 70’s she is also an accomplished actress, she started her acting career in Morte a Venezia (Death in Venice)directed by Luchino Visconti  and continued with Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick plus many other roles.
Fast forward through many decades… Berenson was recently a major character in the superb Italian movie Io sono l’amore (I am love) (you can read more about it and the extraordinary house it was filmed in HERE).

The poster for I am love, truly one of the best movies I have seen lately

and not just because it was filmed in Milan!

 

Marisa Berenson and Tilda Swinton in the streets of Milan.

In 2010 a book titled Momenti intimi (which I can translate as Intimate moments even if I believe it is not yet translated in English…) was published in Italy as her autobiography of a life full of love, celebrities, art, adventures, fashion, beauty but also tragedies like the death of her beloved sister Berry.

In Milan, November 2010, to present her book, wearing Moschino…even now she is stunning and elegant as she was then, a timeless icon!

And now the announcement: In my previous post “Can you guess who she is?” several answers were right but the first correct one received came from

Peppa Martin of Truth and Beauty photography Studio and Gallery in Vancouver.

Take a moment to enjoy her website.

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".

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