Italian handbag designer Giuliana Coen Camerino has died in Venice at the age of 90.
Her fashion house Roberta di Camerino was a favorite of glamorous Hollywood actresses Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. Through it Camerino is credited with making handbags fashionable. Her timeless purses typically sported brass clasps and beautiful velvet bodies.
Camerino’s design career began while she was in exile in Switzerland during World War II. She launched her fashion house in 1945, taking its name from the Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire film Roberta. It was also her husband’s family name, and a name she would later give to her only daughter. She is also survived by a son, Ugo.
Venice Mayor Giorgio Orsoni paid tribute to Camerino, commenting that she was a “friend and great Venetian entrepreneur … who contributed to spreading the name of Venice and Made in Italy in the whole world.”
She will be laid to rest on Thursday in Venice’s Jewish cemetery.
