Princess Irene Galitzine ( ka, ირინა გალიცინი; ; 22 July 1916 – 20 October 2006) was a Russian-Georgian fashion designer whose best known creation was the palazzo pyjama.

Early life

Princess Irene Galitzine was born in 1916 in Tiflis, Russian Empire (now

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, Georgia), to Prince Boris Galitzine (1878–1958), an official of the imperial guard who belonged to the aristocratic Galitzine family, whose origins date back to 1200, and a Georgian mother, Princess Nina Lazareff (Lazarashvili; 1888–1957). However, her family were forced to flee the country following the 1917

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, and took up residence in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Career

After studying art in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, English at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and French at the Sorbonne, Galitzine joined the Italian designers

Sorelle Fontana Sorelle Fontana (literally "Fontana Sisters", also known as "Sorelle Fontana, Alta Moda SRL") is an Italian fashion house, specializing in production of high-fashion couture. It was founded in Rome in 1943 by three sisters and Italian designers: ...

in 1943Wilson, Eric (22 October 2006
"Princess Irene Galitzine Dies; Founder of a Fashion House"
''New York Times'' and worked with them for 3 years. In 1946, she opened her own salon and presented her first collection. In 1960, she achieved great success with the launch of her palazzo pyjamas which were wide legged evening trousers made of soft silk. Evening pyjamas became a firm fixture of the fashion scene during the 1960s. Currently, some of her original palazzo pyjama collection still exist in notable museums around the world including the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London and the Costume Museum in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, Russia. In 1962, she was named Designer of the Year by the Italian fashion press. In 1965, she won the British Sunday Times International Fashion Award and was named to the

International Best Dressed List The International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List was founded by fashionista Eleanor Lambert in 1940 as an attempt to boost the reputation of American fashion at the time. The American magazine '' Vanity Fair'' is currently in charge of the List ...

Hall of Fame. Since then, her creations have been worn by some of the most famous women in the world such as

Sofia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

Lee Radziwill Caroline Lee Radziwill (; March 3, 1933 – February 15, 2019), previously known as Lee Canfield and Lee Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior designer. She was the younger sister of former First Lady of the ...

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

Princess Ira von Fürstenberg Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for t ...

Queen Paola of Belgium Paola Margherita Maria-Antonia Consiglia dei Principi Ruffo di Calabria (born 11 September 1937) is a member of the Belgian royal family who was List of Belgian royal consorts, Queen of the Belgians during the reign of her husband, Albert II of ...

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Marie-Hélène de Rothschild Marie-Hélène Naila Stephanie Josina de Rothschild (; November 17, 1927 – March 1, 1996) was a French socialite who became a doyenne of Parisian high-society and was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of France. Early life ...

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Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

Hope Portocarrero Hope Portocarrero Debayle, also known as Madame Somoza and Hope Somoza Baldocchi later in life, (June 28, 1929 – 5 October 1991) was an American socialite and, beginning in 1967, the First Lady of Nicaragua as the wife of president Anastasio S ...

Marella Agnelli Marella Agnelli (; born ''Donna'' Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto ; 4 May 1927 – 23 February 2019) was an Italian noblewoman, art collector, socialite, style icon, and wife of Fiat S.p.A. chairman Gianni Agnelli. She often appeared in the fa ...

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Catherine Spaak Catherine Spaak (3 April 1945 – 17 April 2022) was a French-Italian actress, singer, model, and media personality. A member of the Spaak family, she was known as an iconic "It girl" in Italy during the 1960s, becoming a star of commedia all'i ...

, Pamela Churchill Harriman and

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938), known as Claudia Cardinale (), is an Italian actress. Born and raised in La Goulette, a neighbourhood of Tunis, Cardinale won the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition ...

. In 1990, the Galitzine label was purchased by the Xines Company. She was subsequently sentenced to six months in jail for

tax evasion Tax evasion or tax fraud is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to red ...

. In September 1996, Galitizine opened her first boutique in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and in November of the same year she published her biography entitled ''From Russia to Russia''.

Personal life

Irene Galitzine was married in 1949 to Silvio Medici de Menezes, an aristocrat from Portugal. On 20 October 2006, she died at her home in Rome, aged 90. She is buried in the

Protestant Cemetery, Rome The Non-Catholic Cemetery (), also referred to as the Protestant Cemetery () or the English Cemetery (), is a private cemetery in the Rioni of Rome, rione of Testaccio in Rome. It is near Porta San Paolo and adjacent to the Pyramid of Cestius, ...

References

Books

* Княжна Голицына – принцесса моды / Редакторы-составители Е.А. Скаммакка дель Мурго, М. Г. Талалай. — М.: ООО «Старая Басманная», 2019. – 212 с., XXXII с. ил. —

External links

Site of Princess Irene Galitzine

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Galitzine, Irene 1916 births 2006 deaths Italian people of Georgian descent University of Paris alumni Businesspeople from Tbilisi Fashion designers from Rome Italian fashion designers Italian women fashion designers Russian women fashion designers Alumni of the University of Cambridge

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...

Italian expatriates in France Italian expatriates in the United Kingdom Soviet emigrants to Italy Nobility from the Russian Empire