king of sprezzatura: Gianni Agnelli
25/06/2017
145.7 kilometers from Milan, 404.6 kilometers from Venice, 419.2 kilometers from Florence, 689.6 kilometers from Rome, Turin, an orderly, elegant city located in piedmont, the most prosperous region in Italy, has never entered the psyche of international tourists, perhaps partly or even mostly because of its too close connection with fiat: fabbrica italiana automobili torino. To many of us, Turin is fiat, nothing else. But to Italians, Turin is also city of agnelli.
More than a century ago, giovanni agnelli sr, grand father of giovanni agnelli jr (who is commonly known as gianni agnelli to differentiate from his grand father), started building his dream factory of automobile and expanded it into the biggest industry empire in Italy by the time he died.
More than a century ago, giovanni agnelli sr, grand father of giovanni agnelli jr (who is commonly known as gianni agnelli to differentiate from his grand father), started building his dream factory of automobile and expanded it into the biggest industry empire in Italy by the time he died.
While a teenager, gianni agnelli was but a sweet looking young man with round face and worry free life, then suddenly, something happened. His father died in a plane crash, his mother took an amante and planned to get married, and his grand father tried to kidnap all 7 grand children including gianni to take over the custody of them, and perhaps to assure the future of agnelli dynasty. The old man did not succeed in this almost comic act but did prevent gianni's mother from remarrying and outlived her by 2 weeks, and in the process, became his grand son's first and perhaps the only mentor, injecting the passion of power into the mind of the latter.
Then, it was 1945, the Second World War was over, gianni agnelli was 24, his grand father died, and he became the heir of the wealth but not the successor of the kingdom. So for more than two decades, he lived the life of any prince of means but no title would possibly have lived, a life of luxury and abandon, and made himself known world wide as a playboy, just like another prince who was also born in Turin Italy before him did: ali khan.
But the 20 years of leisure and pleasure certainly further cultivated his taste, not just in art, but also in the in dressing. With a natural born confidence and sensitivity, the non stop living and traveling experiences around world, he embraced the best of both British and Italian sartorial tradition: the English conservative fabric as well as Italian relaxed craftsmanship, the English seasonal color code of blue and white as well as slipper like loafers hand made in Italy. But meanwhile, with a practical and creative mind, daring and playful spirit, yet always a penetrating eye toward aesthetics, he also invented his own dress code: the over sized watches worn on top of the cuffs of shirts, the over long ties worn askew or tucked into waistband of the pants. When he had an car accident, he refused to wear brace to stabilize his damaged foot and started to wear hiking boots instead underneath his suit pants (perhaps because of this choice of vanity, he never seemed to recover from the accident, and always walked with a slight limp.).
Finally, the odyssey ended, the prince became the king, the playboy became the iron man. With power he acquired charisma, and the charisma grew into an aura as his power increased, from italy to USA to the world.
Finally, the odyssey ended, the prince became the king, the playboy became the iron man. With power he acquired charisma, and the charisma grew into an aura as his power increased, from italy to USA to the world.
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Aging does not have any prejudice, it visits every single child of god, regardless of look, heritage, power or wealth, but it does seem to favor gianni agnelli a little bit. As he aged, his jawline did become more square, more prominent, then dropped, his once smooth face was indeed etched with wrinkles, then deeper, and then sprinkled with age pots, his hair did become white, whiter and fewer, his steps slower and trying, but like a highest grade vintage wine is supposed to be, the older he gets, the better he looks: he could almost wear anything and looked elegant, even the blue denim shirt and jeans which usually are too cowboy like to evoke elegance. Only in the last few years of his life death finally was catching up with him and making him an almost ordinary old man.
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It is said by some that his elegance is eccentric. I disagree. Nonchalant, yes, or better yet, sprezzatura. According to Italian dictionary, the word, first widely used in 16th century in the world of music, can be loosely translated as an attitude of willful and ostentatious negligence, or deliberate neglect, which describes his style more fittingly, and which, he made into an art form.
While in Turin, I ventured to ask quite a few people if they knew who gianni agnelli is, out of pure curiosity. The older ones seemed all remember gianni or L'avoccato (his nickname in Italy because of his law degree although he is never a real lawyer), but the young ones usually stared at me blankly, and after my hint of fiat, the expression would perhaps change to that of recognition, but of another name, lapo elkann, gianni agnelli's most famous grandson, an also a playboy, style icon as well as entrepreneur.
It is natural for the new Italians to forget gianni agnelli, who has passed away for almost 15 years, but I think he deserves so much to be remembered, even just for the most frivolous reason: his impeccable style of dressing, particularly in a world where more and more people seem either not to have or are not making any effort in trying to, something that puzzles me immensely.
While in Turin, I ventured to ask quite a few people if they knew who gianni agnelli is, out of pure curiosity. The older ones seemed all remember gianni or L'avoccato (his nickname in Italy because of his law degree although he is never a real lawyer), but the young ones usually stared at me blankly, and after my hint of fiat, the expression would perhaps change to that of recognition, but of another name, lapo elkann, gianni agnelli's most famous grandson, an also a playboy, style icon as well as entrepreneur.
It is natural for the new Italians to forget gianni agnelli, who has passed away for almost 15 years, but I think he deserves so much to be remembered, even just for the most frivolous reason: his impeccable style of dressing, particularly in a world where more and more people seem either not to have or are not making any effort in trying to, something that puzzles me immensely.
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