Pablo Manzoni (15 July 1939 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian make-up artist who, as Pablo of

Elizabeth Arden Elizabeth Arden (December 31, 1881 – October 18, 1966), also known as Elizabeth N. Graham, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who founded what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and built a cosmetics empire in the United States. Backg ...

, was awarded the

Coty Award The Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards (awarded 1943–1984) were created in 1942 by the cosmetics and perfume company Coty to promote and celebrate American fashion, and encourage design during the Second World War. In 1985, the Coty Awards we ...

in 1965 for leadership in cosmetics.

Biography

Manzoni was born Count Paolo Michaelangelo Zappi-Manzoni di Giovecca in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

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 ...

, son of Count Ubaldo Zappi-Manzoni di Giovecca, a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

, and wife Ersilia Monti. He is technically

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Pablo Manzoni, although he stated in 1985 that he does not use his title. At the age of 17, Manzoni persuaded the Elizabeth Arden salon in Rome to employ him, despite his lack of experience. Whilst there, he worked with clients such as

Sophia 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 ...

, for whom he used his trademark eyebrow-bleaching technique to enhance her eyes. Another early Manzoni trademark was the use of false eyelashes. At 24, Manzoni relocated to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York, where from 1964 to 1979, known only as "Pablo," he was creative director for Elizabeth Arden. In 1965, his eye-makeup techniques were so influential that he was awarded the Coty Award in recognition for launching a worldwide style. As a leader in the field of fashionable, elaborate eye-makeup, Pablo was extremely popular with fashion editors and society women during the 1960s. Manzoni stated in 1966 that the jewel-studded or flower-decorated eyes he created for the fashion press were intended to inspire the reader, rather than to be exactly copied. Despite this, he had clients asking him to reproduce the designs for actual wear. In 2011 Manzoni expanded on this, explaining that the "festive eyes" he created for '' Vogue'' and ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'' were intended for

shock value Shock value (or shock factor) is the potential of an image, text, action, or other form of communication, such as a public execution, to provoke a reaction of sharp disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative emotions. In advertising Sho ...

and publicity purposes, but that when at work he created subtle make-up for clients. In 1979 Manzoni left Elizabeth Arden to embark upon a solo career, for which he reclaimed his surname. By 1985, as well as dealing with private clients, Manzoni was working as a make-up consultant for

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...

. In 1990, he was Creative Director for the La Prairie cosmetics line. Manzoni died from complications from back surgery on 2 February 2022, at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manzoni, Pablo 1939 births 2022 deaths Artists from Rome Italian make-up artists