Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Italia, Has Died at Age 66...

Franca Sozzani, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Italia, Has Died at Age 66...

Editor of  Vogue Italia, has passed away after a yearlong illness. She was 66 years old.Sozzani was at the magazine's helm for 28 years and had recently received the Swarovski Award for Positive Change at the British Fashion Council's Fashion Awards in London.The editor was famous for her groundbreaking and sometimes controversial photo shoots, on subjects as diverse as plastic surgery and domestic violence. Sozzani produced Vogue Italia's 2008 Black Issue, which exclusively featured women of color. Supermodel Naomi Campbell told The New York Times then, "Franca doesn't realize what she has done for people of color. It reminds me of Yves [Saint Laurent] using all the black models."

 

Sozzani was a global ambassador for the United Nations World Food Programme and creative director of Convivio, the AIDS initiative founded by her friend the late Gianni Versace in 1992, among other philanthropic endeavors.Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, said in her tribute to Sozzani, with whom she was very close: "In private, Franca was warm, clever, funny, and someone who could give the Sphinx a run for its money when it comes to keeping a confidence. 

 

She was also the hardest-working person I have known, and with an envy-inducing ease with multitasking. She made everything she worked on appear effortless, regardless of whether it was an event for several hundred; a whirlwind trip to Africa to support the continent’s emerging designers; or the creation of yet another newsworthy, provocative, and utterly spellbinding issue of Italian Vogue."
 This fall Sozzani's son Francesco Carrozzini premiered a documentary about his mother. Franca: Chaos and Creation details Sozzani's story, from her childhood in Mantua to her rise as one of fashion's most creative and respected figures. It is a touching homage to Sozzani, who died in Milan.

Franca Sozzani with son and film director Francesco Carrozzini at the premiere of his film Franca: Chaos and Creation, in October 2016 in New York City.