"To me, soul means freedom and inner confidence. I express it in happy, bright colors, and in simplicity of design." Giorgio di Sant'Angelo
Count Jorge Alberto Imperatrice di Sant'Angelo e Ratti di Desio was born to an aristocratic family in Florence, Italy in 1933.
He grew up in Argentina, and returned to Europe at age 19, when he won a three-month apprenticeship with Pablo Picasso as the prize for winning a ceramics contest.
Di Sant'Angelo studied architecture in Florence, industrial design in Barcelona, and art at the Sorbonne in Paris.
He became an animator, and apprenticed briefly at Walt Disney Studios, before quitting because he felt his creative process was being stifled. Di Sant'Angelo then began doing interior design for hotels, and experimented with making jewelry out of Lucite.
His designs came to the attention of legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, who persuaded jewelry manufacturer Richelieu to produce them.
Vreeland also convinced Di Sant'Angelo to design gloves and accessories for manufacture, and hired him as a stylist.
His work for Vogue resulted in some of their most famous photo shoots, including Twiggy with a flower painted on her cheek and Veruschka tied up in fabric in the Painted Desert.
Di Sant'Angelo debuted his first collection in 1968, and quickly won two Coty American Fashion Critics Awards.
"The future is not vinyl astronaut clothes." Giorgio di Sant'Angelo
Di Sant'Angelo became one of the brightest stars in the fashion world in the 1970s. His clothes were about bright (often fluorescent) colors, flowing fabric, fringes, and comfort, and he believed in showcasing the female form.
Di Sant'Angelo abhorred zippers and buttons. He repeatedly proclaimed that his clothes were about freedom. He was inspired by hippie, gypsy, and ethnic fashions, but brought modern touches to them, including being the first major designer to use the lycra bodysuit as a base for high fashion.
Di Sant'Angelo was flamboyant in his life as well as his designs. He altered his name repeatedly during his life, going from Jorge to Giorgio, dropping the Imperatrice, and even changing Di Sant'Angelo to Sant'Angelo for a decade.
Di Sant'Angelo licensed his ready-to-wear collections in the early '80s, although he was not happy with the results - some of the clothes even had zippers.
He won the Council of Fashion Designers of America award in 1987.
Di Sant'Angelo died in 1989, but the firm has continued after his death.