Gino Bogani turns 78: the dandy who created the look of the largest divas and is still valid

"Pibe" said Tita Merello, her neighboring neighbor, Gino Bogani.I called him on the early morning, when he saw the light on the designer's workshop, who did not sleep until he had everything ready for the parade.I advised him to rest, to eat, to go to sleep.

“To think that one day he told me: kid, do not warm up, if total ethics and aesthetics are no longer fashionable.I didn't like that moment.I thought instead of stimulating me to move on, I came with that.A few months later, my head click me and I thought Tita was right.Imagine that phrase adapted to today!La Merello was advanced and very great."

Bogani, who turns 78 on Tuesday, not for a second.While accommodating the dresses in the mannequins for the photos of Viva and coordinates with Juana Viale the schedules of the tests, he says that he was born in Tripoli, Libya.There his parents met: an Italian military and an Argentine who was on vacation.

When he was 35 days, baby Bogani traveled to southern Italy and from there to Florence, his father's hometown.Then the trip to Argentina would arrive when he was 7 years old: first he was Rosario and then Mar del Plata, where his family stayed at least 10 years.

His parents, Alma and Francesco, always supported the artistic restlessness that his only son felt since childhood.“They were demanding, but I don't talk about the demand for the whip.Every time I showed them a map of the school, they told me: ‘You can do it better’ and I did it again. A los 10, 12, ya tenía ese amor propio de querer hacerlo todo mejor", recuerda.

And what did he do better.Mar del Plata left, where he took his first steps in the design with his mother, in a boutique they had.The buyers of the Harrods stores arrived there, in search of some sweaters who did who would become the spoiled child of Argentine fashion.Already in Buenos Aires, he was the first designer with celebrity category in our country.

-Do you remember the first time you took some scissors?

-Perfectly.I was just 17 years old and was in Mar del Plata.I had three dressmakers who made the blouses with the scarves (one of their hits).There was one that was impeccable: I brought my scarves with the drawings combined perfectly and I, which I am obsessive, seemed brutal.I thought they would all do the same, but many times they cut and the best part of the drawing was in the Sisa and it was not appreciated. Entonces, mi mamá, que pensaba que yo podía hacer de todo, me dijo: “Cortalas vos".And there I started, cutting the 90 by 90 scarves.And then I bought a cut scissors and it is the one that I still have. Mi tijera favorita tiene más de 45 años, se llama “Silver shadow".No one can touch it.

-How did the story follow?

-When I arrived in Buenos Aires I didn't want to know anything with fashion.I was interested in theater and cinema.Until we put a boutique with mom, in front of our first department in Barrio Norte.I was named after my mother: Alma.Then they started inviting TV programs, such as those driving Blackie, Antonio Carrizo, Cacho Fontana, or good afternoon pleasure...It was not like Gino Bogani, but as the young man who made the clothes of that boutique.Then I had my place where today there is an antiquario, at the entrance of the Alvear Hotel.

-But there you were Gino Bogani.

-Silvia Albizu, a mannequin top of the ‘70s, told me that I had to put my name.And I did it.My mother also wanted it.At that time he was already known: he made parades from ‘68, but he didn't want to burn my name in fashion in case he ended up being an actor (laughs).

Fame

The name of Gino Bogani became increasingly known among the local jet set.The women of high society died for their designs.The parades were a performance, in whose first row were their most famous clients: Susana, Mirtha and Borges, her "sister of life" as he defines it.Then he moved to a petit hotel on Rodríguez Peña Street, in the mid -1970s, where since then he lives and attends to his clients.

-Were you thought at that time that you would become the great master of Argentine haute couture?

-(blunt) In no way!

-Cintee years later you keep occupying the same place. Dicen “Bogani" y hay que ponerse de pie.

-I tell you something?Ultimately it happens to me that as a result of being on TV wearing Juana (Viale), I notice that my past work is seen a lot and I really feel very proud of what I have done.There are certain things that I had even forgotten.The amount of dresses, costumes, covered, wedding dresses I made is such...And I still have the feeling that I need to do many more things.I feel very happy with myself, and eye that is not vanity.I didn't feel like that before.

-And why does this happen to you now?There are new generations that are discovering me.

.Maybe they heard my name, I'm a man who is fashionable...20 or 30 -year -old girls have not been able to see anything mine.

-And you like this millennial discovery that is reflected in networks?

-Absolutely.I like it because if you like what I do, it means that my style is still in force.

-It's Mirtha Legrand.You made Marcela Tinayre's wedding dress.Now Juana arrived, whom you have wore for more than three months...A whole family saga.

-Juana called me on Sunday, May 24 at 9 am and told me if I would be interested.I said yes: it's fun and modern.We understand each other with our eyes.The other Sunday ended up dancing with the dress and was happy.And one night, he made so many turns with a long dress with a tail that seemed to be flying...I love to dress her.

-When you see it on TV, it seems that it enters a trance.

-Enters!And you don't know what is fun in the tests.She parades the dress, her eyes light up, she does everything.I give some tips because I am unbearable, but the results begin to see.I'm interested in feeling comfortable.I'm doing things you like.It is the key for her to enjoy and transmits it.And people notice.They leave me divine messages on social networks.

-Is the woman who chooses the dress or dress to the woman?

-A woman who gets a dress has to make that dress feel good, valued, great.If she feels like that, she will be with an attitude of security.And I know what dress is for each one.To the dresses you have to understand them and that is what happens to Juana, and that is why he looks them as he looks.

-¿Tus clientas, las “mujeres Bogani", lo entienden así también?

-There are clients who come with collection orders.Others tell you that they come to try and they only care how they look.You have to always wear the colors that each person looks good.I talk about all this with them, I make them enter a tunnel so that they meet themselves.There are women who are not valued.I help them discover it.

-Anzan fashion considers you the first designer with celebrity category.Do you feel that way?

-When I started, there were only very important haute couture houses such as Greta, Vanina, Carola, Jacques Dorian, to name some.But many of those houses bought the patterns here or in Europe, and even shared them (they left 2.000 dollars), something that the clients knew.There were also the designers who made costumes for cinema, such as Horace Lannes.

-What was your specific contribution?

-I think what I did was break all the taboos: I worked with all the colors together, I mixed textures and prints when nobody did. Creo que de alguna manera dignifiqué la moda, al trabajador de la moda, al “modisto", palabra que detesto.At that time there were more known boutiques, and later the designers began to appear, all after me.And I became a character because I went out in the magazines.I had a lot of social life, I went to television: it was a whole.

-Do you feel an icon?

-No, I feel very proud of what I did and what I do.Feeling an icon is as if I had done everything and I have a lot to do.

-Are there any international designer with whom you feel identified?

-I identify with more artistic personalities, such as a Yves Saint Laurent or with a Valentino.No, on the other hand, with an Oscar de la Renta or a Carolina Herrera.I admire Giorgio Armani: he always owned his brand.The same, it is impossible to compare the markets.Outside it is completely different: Gianni Versace at the time had its investors, Karl Lagerfeld had Chanel behind.I prefer artists.I loved Geoffrey Beene.

-How much influence famous women in your success?

-I don't know if they influenced my career, they were more influential as friends, I would tell you.It was always very positive for me to be close to them and Graciela Borges has been my muse.But I have also felt influenced by the Mannequins.I can name Silvia Albizu, Mora Furtado, Mariana Arias, Ginette Reynal, Delfina Frers, Ethel Brero...And so many more than I adore.I thought about them to make their dresses.I remember the colored wedding dress that I made to Mariana, which transformed her into Mannequin-Vedette.Five years later, Versace did and his dress spoke the world (laughs).

-Is it true that Susana Giménez and Carlos Monzón caused a revolution in a parade of yours?

-It's true, but it was in a cocktail that I gave near the summer.I think that was their first social photo as a couple.Carlos arrived impeccably dressed and Susana was fabulous, with a black tulle dress with pailettes.I remember that women looked a lot at Monzón, they wanted to touch their arm to see if it was human.

-Did you once regret not having gone from the country?

-You have two opportunities, one in Europe and one in the United States, but things were given to stay in my country.I am very happy: here they have always stimulated me, they have supported me.I like to produce something in people and I have achieved it.For example: I changed collections presentation schedules for later, so the husbands of my clients could be.

-As the most expensive?

-That story has persecuted me all my career.In the haute couture to the simplest black dress, it has a job behind that at first glance it is not seen.The fabrics used, artisanal endings, how labor.Why did a Mercedes always come out more than a Fiat 600?Sometimes I find out that they sell things of little quality more expensive than mine and bothers me.As always value more than outside.If it is Gucci or Prada, women pay without gutter.The outside seems that it is always valued more, unfortunately.

-Do you feel a classic for all generations?

-What matters is who puts clothes.If the 17 -spirit girl has a fashion spirit, she knows how to take it.Before the moms accompanied them to first make their dress of 15 and then the bride, lived the whole process.Now that does not exist anymore.

-It's Tini Stoessel, which is part of this generation that mixes a haute couture sack with shoes.How do you get along with the new stars?

-Stage her seemed fantastic.Everything for me is very stimulating.If I didn't feel it, I would stop working.I continue because I like and have fun.I do it for the adrenaline that generates me.

Spring with pandemic

The great 2020 theme is what will happen to each activity. ¿Cómo le pegó a Bogani este año inaudito? “Yo creo que hubo un cambio muy importante cuando fue la caída de las Torres Gemelas", asegura.

“Until that time, he made teams for women who arrived well dressed to fly to Paris or New York and for when they returned from that flight.Can you imagine that today, that you have to undress in airports?Life changed so much...Before the covid, fashion lived with a lot of vertigo: every week get a new product.It was crazy!There is no more style.Now you put a swimsuit with a rolled shower and an oversize sack and you are perfect.Before a look lasted two years, today not even two months ".

-With the quarantine it became fashionable cooking.Kitchens?

-Sometimes.When at three o'clock in the morning I am hungry, low and I get two super fried eggs.But do not dedicate time to the matter.I prefer more to prepare a good table and that it cooks another.

-What things do you like to enjoy with the money you have earned or you win?

-In this moment, rather than enjoying, I try to see how I do money to pay everything I have to pay.Until I rationalize the bouquets of flowers that are bought at home.But beyond that, I really enjoy traveling.I'm dying to go to Cepalú, in Sicily, I don't know.

-Did you fall in love with you?

-Yes I was always corresponded and so they have left me (laughs).They still call me the heirs of a great love that I had and that I love.How can you live without having felt love or without having suffered it?

-What did you always regret it?

-He had postponed, but never having spent hours on a dress until he left as he wanted.Work excites me.

-What do you have to comply with?

-A men's clothing line.Also, some interesting film wardrobe.

-Are you afraid of death?

-No, I think it's part of life.But I would not like to die young: I have a lot to do.I wouldn't like to suffer.

-An wish for the 78 that already arrive?

-Me impresiona decir “78", pero estoy contento.I feel agile, active, excited as always with my job.I have the love of my friends and it is one of the things that, together with my work, more happiness gives me.