Giorgio di Sant'Angelo papers, ca. 1933-2005

Summary

Creators:

Giorgio di Sant'Angelo.

Abstract:

Giorgio di Sant'Angelo (1933-1989) was an Italian-American fashion designer based in New York. His fashion design career began in the mid-1960s with textiles and accessories and as a stylist on magazine photo shoots. He started his own fashion line in 1968 and continuously produced clothing collections until his death. He was best known for his early and innovative use of stretch fabrics. The Giorgio di Sant'Angelo papers contain the designer's personal correspondence and photographs; diaries; early design work; drawings, designs, and photographs of his work in fashion and in other areas of design; and press and public appearance material.

Extent:

95 boxes (47.5 linear ft.) 9 flat boxes 100 oversize boxes 9 oversize map folders 7 tubes

Language:

Finding aid is written in English.

Background

Scope and content:

The Giorgio di Sant'Angelo collection contains the designer's personal correspondence and photographs; diaries; early design work; drawings, designs, and photographs of his work in fashion and in other areas of design (including fabric); and press and public appearance material (including awards and videos).

Biographical / historical:

Giorgio di Sant'Angelo (1933-1989) was an Italian-American designer. Born Count Jorge Alberto Imperatrice di Sant'Angelo e Ratti di Desio in Florence, Italy, he was raised in Argentina and Brazil, and then trained as an architect and industrial designer in Italy. Encouraged by his grandmother, he also studied art, ceramics and sculpture in Spain and France, under Pablo Picasso among others. In 1962, he moved to California for an animation fellowship at Walt Disney Studios. He soon after relocated to New York in the mid-1960s, and began working in many areas of design, including industrial, textile, and interior design. One of his projects, avant-garde Lucite jewelry and other accessory designs for DuPont, appeared in many fashion magazine photo shoots of the time. Sant'Angelo became a stylist on some of the photo shoots, earning wide acclaim for his designs in the July 1968 issue of Vogue, which featured a portfolio of model Veruschka photographed by Franco Rubartelli in the Arizona desert, clothed in reams of colorful fabric, fur, and ropes improvised by Sant'Angelo. The same year he launched his career as a fashion designer with a collection based upon the desert shoot's psychedelic, "gypsy" style, for which he won a COTY award. Two years later, in 1970, he won another COTY award for his collection paying homage to Native Americans. During the 1970s and 1980s, he continuously produced clothing collections. Sant'Angelo was best known for the creativity and versatility of his designs as well as his early and innovative use of stretch fabrics, such as Lycra, encouraging freedom of movement. He considered himself an "engineer of color and form" instead of a "fashion designer." He had a loyal clientele, including celebrities such as Mick Jagger, Carol Channing, and Lena Horne, for all of whom Sant'Angelo also designed performance wardrobes. While creating fashion collections, he still designed accessories and had his own lines of home furnishing designs and environmental fragrances. In 1989 he died of lung cancer. His fashion business continued for a few years afterward under the management of Sant'Angelo's long-time partner and business associate Martin Price.

Acquisition information:

Gift of Martin Price and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005.

Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

1. Personal Material
   • Correspondence
   • Diaries
   • Passports, resumes, and immigration documents
   • Photographs and other memorabilia
   • Collection of Veruschka Material
   • Memorial material
2. Company Files
3. Fashion Work
   • Drawings and designs
   • Fabric swatches and accessory material
   • Logo Designs, labels, tags, bags, paper
   • Photographic material
   • Creative Couture Kit
4. Other Work
   • Art
   • Early design in Argentina and the United States
   • Environmental fragrance
   • Interior design
   • Toys
5. Press and Public Appearances
   • Articles and reviews of Sant'Angelo and his designs
   • Awards
   • Promotional material
   • Press books
   • Publicity photographs of Sant'Angelo
   • Tearsheets and other design publicity
   • Video and film

Physical location:

Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

UCLA Library Department of Special Collections holds many other collections of fashion design material, such as the Rudi Gernreich papers (Collection 1702) and the Bonnie Cashin Collection of Fashion, Theater, and Film Costume Design (Collection 440). Giorgio di Sant'Angelo garments are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Separated material:

Copies of items exceeding two have been removed. Nonessential items, such as folders or other enclosures with redundant information or no information on them, have been removed. Wardrobe boxes of patterns were transferred to the Apparel Design & Development Program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Fashion designers--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources.

Location of this collection:

UCLA, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library

A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library

Box 951575

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US

Contact:

(310) 825-4988

AskLSC@library.ucla.edu

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