photo New Press & Pasquale Paradiso
Enrico Coveri. The king of colours, the first book on the history of the great Tuscan designer
A coffee table book for fashion and 80s lovers
Maison Coveri and the publishing house Gruppo Editoriale present Enrico Coveri - The King of Colors, the first biography on Enrico Coveri, written by Silvio Balloni.
A collector's coffee table book housed in an elegant slipcase in his most beloved colour, fuchsia. 232 pages that tell the story of the designer's life through 160 images, most of them previously unpublished, and come to life thanks to exclusive multimedia content that can be accessed through the qrcodes inserted in the book.
Libro Enrico Coveri (ph. Pasquale Paradiso)But that's not all, it is also a didactic book written to be studied in schools to learn about the stylistic path that has left an indelible mark on the history of Costume. Thanks to the opening of the archives by the Maison, Silvio Balloni reconstructs every aspect of Enrico Coveri's revolutionary creative activity and recounts his human and professional journey in a biography rich in unpublished, graphic and photographic documentation.
Enrico Coveri. The king of colorsThe book presentation was held in the Salone dei Cinquecento on 26 February, the day on which the great fashion designer would have turned 72. Francesco Martini Coveri, creative director of Maison Coveri, talked with author and curator Silvio Balloni and co-curator and publisher Matteo Parigi Bini. The meeting, organised in collaboration with the City of Florence, was presented by Mara Venier.
Mara Venier, Francesco Martini Coveri
Silvio Balloni, Matteo Parigi Bini
Mara Venier
Presentazione Libro Enrico Coveri – The King of Colors nel Salone dei Cinquecento
Mara Venier, Francesco Martini CoveriAlso present were the President of the Region of Tuscany Eugenio Giani and Mayor Dario Nardella, who presented the Fiorino d'oro of the city of Florence to Francesco Martini Coveri, grandson of the founder of the maison and now at the helm.
Matteo Parigi Bini, Silvio Balloni, Raffaello Napoleone
Da sinistra: Alex Vittorio Lana, Dario Nardella, Silvio Balloni, Francesco Martini Coveri, Mara Venier, Matteo Parigi Bini, Eugenio Giani
Al centro Silvana Coveri, sorella di Enrico
Presentazione Libro Enrico Coveri – The King of Colors nel Salone dei Cinquecento (ph. Pasquale Paradiso)
Da sinistra: Matteo Parigi Bini, Silvio Balloni, Dario Nardella, Francesco Martini Coveri, Eugenio GianiAlso on the same day, in the Giunti Odeon bookshop, an event open to all with the author of the book Silvio Balloni, Francesco Martini Coveri and Matteo Parigi Bini, who celebrated the life and creative flair of Enrico Coveri through the narration and projection of unpublished videos outlining the most important moments of the professional life that made him one of the greats of international fashion. Cinzia Malvini moderated the meeting.
ph. Bill King @Enrico Coveri The king of colorsThanks to the opening of the archives by the Maison, Enrico Coveri's human and professional career is investigated from the very beginning thanks to a wealth of previously unpublished graphic and photographic documentation. The early period narrates his work as a model for Ente Moda Italia, the little-known activities within the industrial environment of Florence and Prato and the main textile and ready-to-wear fashion companies in Tuscany, which saw in Coveri the talent capable of renewing their lines. 1978 was the year of Coveri's dazzling debut on the Paris prêt-à-porter scene, with a collection so avant-garde that it consecrated Enrico Coveri, just 26 years old, as the new star of the international fashion firmament. From this moment on, the doors of an extraordinary career opened for Coveri, carried out under the banner of collaboration with top models destined to become the icons of female beauty, from Naomi Campbell to Linda Evangelista, from Cindy Crawford to Claudia Schiffer.
The 1980s are witnessed by important archive documents, in particular relating to the designer's original sketches inspired by the Pop-Art of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, up to his collaboration with Andy Warhol, which is deepened by important unpublished testimonies. The last chapter is dedicated to Coveri's debut in Haute Couture, inaugurated by a famous fashion show at the Opera Garnier in Paris, opened by a ballet by Maurice Béjart, of which the splendid dresses paraded for the occasion will be published for the first time.
The book closes with an illustration of the present of the Maison and the direction given to it by Francesco Martini Coveri, who by merging his uncle's legacy with his personal vision of fashion has ensured, under the aegis of Silvana Coveri, Enrico's sister, the continuity of the brand and its projection into the future.