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On Monday, Giorgio Armani posted a personal message to his label’s Instagram, remembering his dear friend Anna Riva, who died last week at the age of 90.
In the last stretch of a long career, Riva — who hailed from Reggio Emilia and got her start in fashion at Max Mara in 1958 before moving in 1962 to publishing house Mondadori, where she edited the groundbreaking magazine Arianna together with Anna Piaggi — worked as a correspondent for German Vogue, probably unbeknownst to many in the global fashion industry. In Italy, however, she was always fashion royalty: a pioneering figure, part of the wave who created Italian fashion itself, much like Mr. Armani.
Back then, Italian magazines were as strong and focussed as the collections. Riva, who wore eccentric hats and bold jewellery, had a unique way — enthusiastic but not silly; always open to new talent — of both writing about fashion and art directing shoots. She was a key figure at seminal publications such as Linea Italiana and Mondo Uomo, the men’s fashion monthly launched in 1981 by Flavio Lucchini to rival L’Uomo Vogue, and was revered for her ability to spot trends and shape fashion culture.
And if Riva herself belonged to fashion’s distant past, the way in which she fused the verbal and the visual has endured. A look at her work, especially from the 1970s and 1980s, would provide great nourishment for many in today’s fashion industry.
