The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2020 - Issue 27

bite book review producing incredible original works. These include his work for Vogue Italia, one of which shows a model dressed in a long dressing gown with white and pale blue stripes by Complice and a balconette bra and underwear shorts in floral upholstery fabric by Bianca e Blu. More of Monica Bolzoni’s designs are shown in glossy pages in the form of two nylon jumpsuits in navy and yellow with turquoise jersey collars; a black Grace froissé nylon dress with a mirror PVC collar; and a silver Fanny lamé coat and golden lamé dress with flashes and topstitches. We go on to learn the designer’s manifesto which was conceived in 2006 to explain the difference between fashion and fashion-design to students from her course at University Iuav of Venice, from a methodo- logical viewpoint. In 1990, Bianca e Blu ventured into Tokyo and settled on 3-4-4 Minami Aoyama, their first Japanese space as a result of a col- laboration with Mitsubishi, the Japanese group of companies. This powerhouse conglomerate has an Italian branch in Milan, operating in the textile, mechanical engineering, chemical, and electronic sector and exports from Italy to Japan fabrics, yarn, and clothing. One of the adverts invited people to challenge themselves with transparent materials that Bianca e Blu is re- nowned for. Monica Bolzoni paid homage to French shoe designer Roger Vivier with her black patent leather shoe with silver metal buck- le and silver leather inside as well as a black cotton faille shoe with silver leather inside. There is also a piece on Vogue Italia which featured a lot of Bianca e Blu’s designs and has a very in- teresting story behind their inception. Beginning life as Italian magazine Novità in 1950, the publication was sold to American Condé Nast and established as Vogue Italia in 1962. On using XL as one of the body scales, Monica said, “Building a dress through the geometry of the body means that these ge- ometrical shapes have to meet the eponym rectangle: the hu- man body. Designing for dressing means also dealing with the problem of fitting: from the study of shapes emerges the matter [that] is not to think of the dress on the body, but of the body in the dress. I think that beauty is S, M, L, XL: the body in scale.” Not only will you find displays of the designer’s clothing but also a few examples of accessories in the closing pages of this book. Intriguing pieces include a German-style fork earring; vintage earrings in emeralds and strass (rhinestone); white and blue striped cotton knit shirt; leggings in silver metallic jersey, with gala collar in black lacquered pleated raffia; and moorhead buttons made especially for Bianca e Blu, which looks like a bust of an infant king. The book Bianca e Blu Monica Bolzoni by ECAL is different be- cause it visualises the concept of the brand through the eyes of students who are studying Type Design and Photography at the university. They have captured every aspect of Bianca e Blu through their illustration of the materials she used, the shape dimensions, Mitsubishi and Vogue Italia collaborations, artists and other designers that have influenced her and the designs she helped shape the fashion industry with. Bianca e Blu Monica Bolzoni by ECAL is published by Rizzoli USA and available on their website. www.rizzoliusa.com B IANCA E B LU M ONICA B OLZONI