Fonts of Rome (2014)

All images, copyright 2014 by Nick Rossi

There is simply so much to love about the city of Rome. And while many are intoxicated by the smells, the sounds, or the taste of the food, what struck me most on my recent visit was the abundance of wonderful design in everyday things - beauty in a great sense of the word. Certainly, other cities have a more unified design (Berlin?) and still others may appeal to me more from a modernist aesthetic (New York?), but the even more eternal than before city of Rome continues to blatantly disregard style guidelines with such careless aplomb that should be appreciated and applauded.

Traveler's note: I HIGHLY recommend the travel guide Rome: Moods and Places published by Herb Lester Associates. Not only was it a daily part of my finding beauty in everyday objects thanks to designer Nate Luetkenhans, but it was authored by author, blogger, and friend JP Gaul who has a very unique insight to the city of Rome. 

René Gruau for McGregor Sportswear (1954)

At the beginning of the summer, mention was made of USA-based McGregor Sportswear's introduction of the continental style into its product line. As I promised some further details on the matter, let's take another look now. 

McGregor Sportswear print ad, 1955, illustration by René Gruau

McGregor's roots reach back to New York, 1921 and Scottish immigrant David Doniger's establishment of a men's clothier. Doniger introduced the McGregor brand 2 years later and by mid-century was arguably the most well-known purveyor of what was be known as casual wear. Doniger was obviously just ahead of the curve. The concept of casual clothing did not really exist (much) before  the end of the Second World War. But with the wartime economy boom the reached through much of the 1940s and the cultural shift towards suburban pursuits, McGregor was positioned to take full advantage of the situation. 

McGregor Sportswear print ad, 1948, illustrator unknown

By the mid-1950s, the brand was firmly established but began to feel the heat of competition as regional favorites such as Pendleton began to utilize the quickly-maturing advertising industry to increase its nationwide presence. McGregor had always specialized in imports as much of its early offerings were truly from Scotland, but to keep pace it looked even further afield to Italy and the en vogue continental look. In 1954, what would be called continental style was most commonly referred to as Italian style and McGregor referenced the latter liberally in its advertisements for its new line of distinctly international and modern casual wear. 

McGregor Sportswear print ad, 1954, illustrator unknown

McGregor Sportswear print ad, 1954, illustration by René Gruau

To help sell this new look to a fairly staid and traditional market, McGregor (or most likely McGregor's advertising agency who I suspect, but cannot yet prove, was Y&R at the time) enlisted the services of one of the most talented fashion illustrators of the day, René Gruau. Italian-born Gruau, whose birth name was Renato Zavagli Ricciardelli delle Caminate, was 45 at the time his first print adverstisements for McGregor were published. He had only been living in New York for 9 years, having immigrated from Paris where he gained notoriety and no small amount of fame for his work with nearly every single important fashion magazine up until that time. A cursory look at his early work lends strong credence to the notion that his style completely changed the art of fashion illustration. And it certainly had a lasting impact on McGregor's approach to advertising. Gone were the flat, cartoon-like figures used early on (and still used by the competition at the time) to be replaced by impressionistic verging on abstract figures of intriguing looking gentlemen wearing garments with strange cuts and details. The Gruau commission was short-lived and only was run in magazines for a couple of years, but subsequent McGregor print ads unmistakably bore his influence. Mad Men could not have provided a better storyline!

McGregor Sportswear print ad, 1955, illustration by René Gruau

McGregor Sportswear print ad, 1956, illustration by René Gruau

McGregor Sportswear print ad, 1956, illustration by René Gruau

Post-Gruau era McGregor Sportswear print ad, 1962, illustrator unknown

McGregor T.T. Convertible Sport Shirt (1954)

Magazine print advertisement, 1954

You may have noticed that one of the links I spotlight to the right of this column in the Blogroll is Shorpy. Their scope goes far beyond the somewhat narrow-minded confines of this particular space, so it is always refreshing to meander through their archives for glimpses of worlds other than this nebulous concept of modernism that I have. And yet, occasionally worlds do collide and, as I like to quote Charles Eames, eventually everything connects. Today's photo is a great example.

Mike Wallace and Buff Cobb, photo by John Vachon for Look magazine, 1952

Photo courtesy of Shorpy

Be sure to click through here for the full size photo. It is certainly something to take in. The Mike Wallace of 1952 was a far cry from the Mike Wallace of today. He had already made the transition to television from radio, but was not yet known as an investigative journalist. In fact, he spent a good deal of time hosting game shows and serving as an announcer both for regular shows and commercial breaks. But one achievement worth noting was the groundbreaking TV talk show Mike and Buff that ran on CBS from 1951 until 1953 and was based in New York. His co-host was actress Buff Cobb who he married in 1949. According to Shorpy the photograph is from a 1952 spread for Look magazine with the intent of showing off Italian style. Interesting. 

Magazine print advertisement, 1954

I wrote about the early origins of Continental (a.k.a. the Italian influence) style in the USA a few years ago on these very pages. However, what is interesting about the Wallace photo is that it predates by 2 years the general consensus about its emergence on these shores. This brought to mind some recent eBay finds of mine. A couple of print ads dated 1954 show McGregor Sportswear offering their original TT Shirt styled in Italy. Now those of you that know McGregor know that while they were a solid American brand, they could seldom be accused of being ahead of any fashion curves. So what got me scratching my head was how did McGregor jump on this trend so quickly? Perhaps they did not. Perhaps the stylistic developments of 1954 were much more of a gradual process that I had previously found. Well, it looks like someone needs to get back to their research. There is obviously a little more to story.

Brioni Roman Style and the origins of the Continental Look in the USA (1954)

In a series of recent conversations with a friend, I found myself describing the Continental Look to him but lacking a distinct sense of its history and origin. Sure, I knew that it's popularity rivaled the Ivy League look here in the United States by the early 1960s and in many ways had as much stylistic influence on the next few years as the English look (both of which would briefly eclipse Ivy by 1966 or so) - but apart from hunches and suspicions that was about it.

So, where to start? Well, what most of us know as Continental Style is also known as Italian Style due to its origins in Italy. Narrow lapels, a slightly pronounced shoulder, 2-buttons, and a shorter slim silhouette both in the jacket and trousers. But where did this style get its start? A good argument can be made that it all starts with Brioni Roman Style. Opened by tailor Nazareno Fonticoli and businessman Gaetano Savini in 1945 in Rome's Via Barberini, the shop quickly established itself a top-end retailer of hand-made suits. One can easily speculate the effect a shop like this might have had on the more sartorial-minded G.I.s celebrating the end of the Second World War in Rome, but more importantly the shop jumped to the head of the pack in pace-setting post-war Italian style. Seven years later, Brioni again innovated with not only its first fashion show, but the first fashion show anywhere to feature a male model as the primary focus on the catwalk. Similar presentations in nine U.S. cities in 1954, were quickly followed by the establishment of a New York shop. By the following year, the clothing line was not only featured in Life Magazine, but could be found in larger fine retailers in many major cities in the States. The Continental Style had arrived.

A second, concurrent major influence during this time period was cinema. Roman Holiday won the best picture for 1953 and was a huge popular favorite due in no small part to performances from Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. But it also was the first American film shot entirely in Italy (Cincetta Studios, Rome) and was very likely the first exposure many people had in this country to any sense of Italian style - albeit in brief flashes and through the lens of director William Wyler. By the end of the decade, American movie stars filming in Rome was fairly commonplace as was American stars (such as Cary Grant) buying clothes at Brioni's now world headquarters in the Eternal City. But the cultural attention to Italian style may have hit a peak in 1961 when Fellini's La Dolce Vita was released in US movie houses. Another popular success, it showcased a much more articulate and vivid portrait of true Continental style. (Side note: both Paul Newman and Henry Fonda were early considerations for roles). By this time, taste-makers in Esquire, Playboy and beyond were proudly touting the joys of Continental Look.

One final nod must be made to some of the musicians of the time period, particularly jazz musicians such as Miles Davis. Always sartorially astute, once he cleaned up in 1954, Davis's attention to clothing and style seemed to shift into overdrive. He had already been an early adapter to and trendsetter of Ivy League style among his peers. His LP jackets were gaining notoriety often as much as showcases for his wardrobe as they were for the music contained therein (just ask clothes horse Eric Clapton who has pointed to Davis as a massive early style influence) and his 1956 disc Workin showed him wearing a custom tailored jacket with a distinct Continental influence. By the end of the decade the look was pervasive among both jazz and R&B musicians and eventually won out with the latter group, becoming the look of "soul" music through 1968.