Fashion designer, interior decorator, landscape designer and collector, Federico Forquet, still active at 89, is not very well known to the general public. The World of Federico Forquet, a richly illustrated book by journalist and fashion historian Hamish Bowles with the help of photographer Guido Taroni, sheds light on the multiple talents of this fascinating designer, while tracing a part of the societal history of post-war Italy and its dolce vita.
After seventy-five years of a long and rich career that led him to found a couture workshop under his own name before using his talent to design gardens, Federico Forquet is a man who does not regret any of his creations, whether they be dresses or green compositions. Following his inspiration, nourished by a classical refinement mixed with a Mediterranean exuberance, and never ceasing to enrich his unique know-how developed in contact with the greatest, Federico Forquet has demonstrated a perfect ease in the different fields in which he has invested himself.
It was during a stay in Marrakech at Marella Agnelli’s villa that Hamish Bowles met Federico Forquet. Fascinated by the designer’s creations that marked the fashion of the 1960s despite his short ten-year career, the journalist also saw in this meeting the opportunity to deepen his knowledge in the context of exhibitions he organized on Cristóbal Balenciaga, whose Federico Forquet was a disciple.
