Fondazione Micol Fontana

The Micol Fontana Foundation is a non-profìt association founded in 1994 that carries the name of its president who worked with determination to bring to fruition this project dose to her heart as a tribute to her two sisters, Zoe and Giovanna, and to the world of fashion. The Foundation is a registered member of the region of Lazio's cultural institutions and has been declared of "notable historical interest" by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage.
As members of the Fontana Family, Roberta, Giovanni, Luisella, Cristina, Gabriele and Mario, are today in the Board of the Fondation helping the president in the day-by-day tasks.
The Micol Fontana Foundation is located in the heart of Rome just off the Piazza di Spagna in
the historic atelier of the Sorelle Fontana fashion house.
The endowment of the Sorelle Fontana atelier, comprising original dresses realised in the period 1940s to the 1990s, sketches, a photographic collection, newspaper and magazines clippings, samples of embroidery and accessories, is conserved in its archive for future generations to consult and to view by way of visits, seminars, exhibitions and cultural meetings.
November 8, 2013 Micol Fontana is celebrated for its 100 years by the Mayor of Rome Ignazio Roberto Marino exedra of Marcus Aurelius in the Capitoline Museums.
The archive
Among the dresses on display in the rooms of the Foundation are those designed for famous and glamorous women, notably Jacqueline Kennedy, Princess Grace of Monaco, Princess Soraya of Persia, the princesses of the House of Savoy, and actresses of international fame including Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Ursula Andress and Ava Gardner.
The most well known piece in the collection is Linda Christian's wedding dress made for her wedding in 1949 with Tyrone Power celebrated in Rome.
The Foundation's activities
The Foundation make accessible its historic, cultural, and artistic patrimony to researchers, students, and to the general public. It organises guided visits for groups, agencies, conferences, and school and university students. A visit to the Micol Fontana Foundation, led by one of our experts, entails:
• an explanation of the history of the Sorelle Fontana fashion house including the various stages that contributed to the development of Italian high fashion
• a visit to the archive of vintage dresses designed for celebrities or for high fashion collection
• a showing of a vast collection of sketches from the 1940s to today, samples of embroidery, photographs of models and illustrious people who frequented the Sorelle Fontana atelier
In the program of the visit it is possible to add a demonstration lesson from the fashion seminars organised by the Foundation together with experienced teachers.
Educational activities and fashion seminars
The Foundation promotes and organises fashion design seminars for students who study fashion design at university or other higher education institutes.
The seminars are run by professional teachers with experience in the field along .The seminars are directed towards students who study fashion design at university or other higher education institutes and are held at the Foundation’s venue. With this initiative, the Micol Fontana Foundation aims to share with young people the history of one of the most illustrious Italian ateliers and to give them a sense of the creative process that leads to the realisation of a garment of high fashion, the full expression of craftsmanship and the great heritage of Italian tradition and culture.
The seminars constitute a working laboratory with "living" documents from the Micol Fontana Foundation archive that regard the birth of Italian high fashion from 1940 on that students can observe, touch and consult.
The programme includes time for theory (history of high fashion, comments on fabric embroidery, accessories, sketches) and for practice in which the students transform and elaborate their own ideas inspired by the material held in the archive but are also by current trends.
The Micol Fontana Foundation - Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm