Emilio Pucci
The Astonishing Odyssey of a Fashion Icon
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- Pedido anticipado
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- Se espera: 10 feb 2026
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- USD 17.99
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- Pedido anticipado
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- USD 17.99
Descripción editorial
The Drama of War and Postwar Italy Through the Life of One of Its Most Celebrated Icons
When people think of fashion designer Emilio Pucci, it is of his bright, swirling colors and easy, freeing fabrics, and everyone from Sophia Loren to Jackie Kennedy donning the eye-catching dresses that personify La Dolce Vita. What few know about Pucci, however, is that before creating his world-famous fashions, he played a critical role in the war against the Nazis, risking his life to smuggle out to the Allies one of the most important documents of World War II.
The authors bring to life Italy’s darkest and brightest days, with the extraordinary Emilio Pucci at its center. Italy at the end of the war was broken, and Florence, which the Pucci family had called home for seven centuries, lay in ruins. Pucci returned home bruised in body and soul, having endured trials that would have broken many, but, like Italy itself, rose from the ashes, and went on to design some of the most exuberant fashion of all time. He helped usher in a new era of creativity in Italy, which again became a mecca of fashion, art, design, film, and more.
A host of supporting characters—including Mussolini’s daughter and Allen Dulles, and, most importantly, the timeless city of Florence and the mythic island of Capri—enrich this compelling narrative that will draw readers of all kinds, from war and history buffs, to fashionistas and fans of espionage thrillers along with the millions of readers who devour books about Italy and her many charms.
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Emilio Pucci's unlikely role in aiding Allied forces during WWII is chronicled in this thrilling account from documentary producer Ward (Searching for Hassan) and Idanna Pucci, the Italian designer's niece. Pucci grew up in an aristocratic family and studied in the U.S. before serving as a fighter pilot in Egypt; he returned to Italy "violently hating the Fascist regime." In 1943, after Italian foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano was executed, his wife, Edda Ciano—a close friend of Pucci's—showed up on Pucci's doorstep, desperate for help smuggling her husband's diaries out of the country. The authors reconstruct in gripping detail how he successfully ferried Ciano's wife to the Swiss border with the diaries—which "destroy all illusions of a united Axis" by framing the Italians as "servants" of the Nazis—sewn into her clothes, before Pucci was captured by the Nazis. The diaries helped secure the conviction of Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in the Nuremberg trials, though Pucci felt "betrayed" by an American press that exploited his story. While the book's momentum flags postwar, most notably in a concluding series of reflections by Idanna, the narrative is fast-paced and propulsive, drawing from the diaries and Pucci's accounts to bring the designer's surprising exploits to colorful life. This will captivate fashion fans and history buffs alike.
