Fashion history has its cult names, the little niche babies that give fashion lovers their annual goosebumps! One of them is Venice-born designer Giuliana Coen, also known as Roberta di Camerino, the queen of trompe l’oeil and inventor of the legendary Bagonghi, Grace Kelly’s favorite it-bag. Di Camerino made her fortune with crazy optical illusions poured over dresses and her exquisite taste for bold color combinations. For over fifty years she dressed up jet-setters by bringing fun into fashion: doctor bags reinvented in eccentric and colorful ways and “illustrated” dresses with already everything on them to get ready in one go!
Along the way, her unique pieces were exhibited in museums and hunted by collectors from all over the globe. Our lovely friends at Cavalli e Nastri, one of the oldest and coolest vintage shops in Milan, know a thing or two about precious vintage finds and over the years have collected several Roberta gems. Together we dug up the best loot of collectible pieces by queen Roberta: mesmerizing optical coats with fur linings that are truly hard to find, a rare printed t-shirt lot that come directly from her archive and printed velvet handbags with unusual shapes that will blow your socks off!
These pieces by Roberta di Camerino are seasonless, so even when it’s not winter you can always remove the fur from your coat and wear it in springtime or tuck the t-shirt with the trompe l’oeil collar into flare pants under your favorite cardigan. Plus many of them are made of her signature smooth poly-jersey fabric, ideal in between seasons. If you haven’t got one in your wardrobe yet, it’s about time! Roberta di Camerino is an Italian genius, who will never go out of style.
– Livia Satriano
