Beppe Modenese, creator of Milan fashion system, dies at 90

Beppe Modenese, the force behind the coalescence of Italian ready-to-wear fashion in the northern city of Milan, has died. He was 90. Modenese died Saturday in the fashion capital. No cause of death was given.

Dubbed “Italy’s Prime Minister of Fashion” in 1983 by Women’s Wear Daily, Modenese remained a front-row mainstay into recent seasons, maintaining the official title of honorary president of the Italian fashion council, the Italian National Fashion Chamber. An impeccable dresser, he was known for one extravagance: red socks.

Modenese started his fashion career in the 1950s in Florence, working with Giovanni Battista Giorgini to organize the first Italian runway shows in Florence in the early 1950s, as Italian fashion began to gain an international following around such houses as Emilio Pucci and Roberto Capucci.