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MARELLA AND LEE

For devotees of timeless chic, February packed a one-two punch, with Lee Radziwill and Marella Agnelli passing away within days of each other. Each was a towering figure who lived a long life plugged into the currents of history, and each was justly famed

For devotees of timeless chic, February packed a one-two punch, with Lee Radziwill and Marella Agnelli passing away within days of each other. Each was a towering figure who lived a long life plugged into the currents of history, and each was justly famed for her beauty and style. Maison Valentino mourns them—and wishes to celebrate them, too.

 

Marella Agnelli was one of Mr. Valentino's earliest clients. Born Princess Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto on May 4, 1927, in Florence, she went on to become a model, with plans to use her experience on-set to further her own career in photography. Fate had other plans for her, however: In 1953, she wed Gianni Agnelli, and together, the couple set an international standard for jetset elegance. Mrs. Agnelli's artistic eye never failed her, whether she was putting together polished ensembles, or, later in life, cultivating her legendary gardens. Of all Mr. Valentino's clients, he admitted in Harper's Bazaar, Marella Agnelli topped the list in terms of style. "I don't want to make anyone jealous," he told writer J.J. Martin, but the "top, top, top" were Marella Agnelli, Babe Paley and Gloria Guinness. High accolades, indeed.

 

Marella Agnelli titled her 2014 memoir The Last Swan, referencing her role as one of Truman Capote's socialite "swans." Lee Radziwill was another great pal of Capote's—and another peerlessly chic longtime Valentino fan. The younger sister of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Lee was thought by the family to be "the pretty one," though history will no doubt judge the Bouvier daughters equally matched, in that regard. A stalwart companion of Jackie's throughout the Camelot era and in the wrenching days after Jack Kennedy's assassination, Lee struck out on her own path in the later 1960s, trying out a career as an actress and then shifting her focus first to interior design, then fashion P.R. Throughout, her romances were tracked by gossip columnists and her outfits catalogued by WWD. "She had everything a woman can desire…beauty, intelligence, style, fame," Mr. Valentino told WWD, in Radziwill's obituary. "I am sure," he added, "she had moments of happiness, too."

 

They will be missed.

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