Renato Balestra he knew the color of his soul and made it a distinctive sign of style. Thus the couturier born in Trieste, but who found his professional and existential birthplace in Rome, made vibrant, magical and timeless blue the nuance of his long life.
Passed away at the age of 98 in November 2022, on the threshold of 100 which he would have turned on 3 May 2024: a journey on Earth that was absolutely positive, rewarding, serene, contained in that particular cobalt point. «For him it has always represented a window onto the past and the future, without borders», he says Sofia Bertolli Balestragranddaughter of the “painter of fashion”, today creative director of the brand.
Inventor of the iconic Balestra Blue colour, the designer embarked on a career in the world of fashion due to a fortuitous circumstance. His haute couture creations, also loved by Hollywood stars, have made him a protagonist of Italian high fashion in the world
Boundless, in fact, like his love for the Eternal City to which he has remained faithful over the decades: «He never “betrayed” her despite having had the opportunity over time to move to Paris and New York», states the designer. To reciprocate this enormous feeling, the Capital dresses in the characteristic Balestra Blue for a night, between 3 and 4 May as a symbolic recognition of a great artist, ambassador and precursor of Made in Italy: the places where Renato Balestra used to present his collections, Piazza del Campidoglio, the Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti and Porta Pinciana near via Veneto lights up so blue that it's immense love.
Not only that, because even Trieste, his city of origin, pays homage to Balestra with its nuance: the Palazzo Urban Center delle Imprese and the Neptune Fountain in the central Piazza della Borsa will be illuminated in blue.
The couturier had the same great feeling with Rome for art, craftsmanship, cinema and, above all, with women: «They have always been his strength, from the aunt who supported him at the beginning of his career to the clients who always believed in him, from the American who led him to discover the United States to us women of the family, me, my mother Fabiana and her sister Federica who today bring the company forward. Renato, with his creations aimed at always enhancing and enhancing the female body, thanks to his sartorial but avant-garde look, he wanted to thank everyone, always celebrating them”, explains his granddaughter.
«Women were won over by him also because he was ironic, sarcastic to the right degree, really very nice. I'll tell you a little-known anecdote: Anita Ekberg he knew, for example, that my grandfather had a weakness for scampi and every time he found himself having lunch in Fiumicino he brought them to him. He has always had a very human, supportive relationship with everyone, divas, princesses and otherwise. There's a shot I really love of him walking alongside Lauren Hutton and smiles: I find it beautiful.”
Over the years, Balestra has taken care of the looks of many celebrities: «Among all of them, Claudia Cardinale represented my grandfather the perfect woman to dress. Very feminine in the 70s, with great awareness of her body, bold, she knew how to wear deep necklines, I don't see it, interpreting Renato Balestra clothes in a moment of great social change. At the time, in a very bourgeois Rome, not everyone wanted to wear clothes that put the physique so prominently.”
After his passing, where did he start again? Balestra's new course? «From the curiosity that always characterized my grandfather, a lesson that he gave us until the end, that of never stopping looking around. He never stopped reading books, visiting exhibitions, travelling, demonstrating a hunger for life. Today, on the one hand we are aiming at the constantly evolving historical archive that we are digitizing to make it public and leave evidence of what it has done, as well as to make wonderful years discover to a generation that has no idea of what it was for Italian fashion Piazza di Spagna or events such as Woman under the stars», says Sofia Bertolli Balestra.
«On the other hand we aim to bring the brand into the contemporary world, to dress women every day at 360°. This is why we created one for the first time ready-to-wear line but with that savoir faire and attention to detail and tailoring that has always distinguished Balestra.”
Source: Vanity Fair
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