Barbie marked the childhood of many, but for the Italian designer Elisabetta Franchi, her inspiration was found in Betty, her only doll. “I used to have fun dressing her in rags I found. That’s how it all started. For me, Betty was not only a starting point, but also a faithful companion on my work journey and a charm”, says the dressmaker who started selling underwear in a market and was encouraged to set up her own atelier in 1995. It was not until 2012 , with the launch of his eponymous label, when celebrities from all over the world began wearing his dazzling designs.
These life-size “dolls” are dressed in elegant tulle dresses, with gold appliqués and fringes. They are contemporary princesses, like her, daring, strong and professional but who never forget her sensuality. Her way of understanding how a woman wants to feel and therefore dress has placed her at the top of luxury fashion, with 87 stores worldwide and a turnover of 131 million euros in 2021.
An industry in which Franchi has a reputation as a perfectionist. She would define herself as extremely sincere: “sometimes she is my greatest virtue and other times my worst flaw,” she says. The mystical attracts her, she is one of those people who look at the horoscope, but she does not leave anything to chance: “I am a believer but I believe that destiny is a personal choice”.
Her collections are the spitting image of her person: energetic and full of life -her biggest fear is waking up one day and realizing that she is no longer a gazelle- Franchi advances without having to set goals. He only pays attention to his “nose” although he also tries “not to be too absolutist with his decisions” and despite his warrior character he keeps a deep and wonderful sensitivity for animals.
“The last time I cried was when I saw animal violence,” he recalls. An inveterate animal lover, she runs a foundation of the same name to “give a voice to those who don’t have one.” Franchi does not give up anything. Her husband Alan Scarpellini and her two children, Ginevra and Leone, are her pillar and together with them she enjoys her passion for the mountains. An all-terrain woman who, with her designs, makes us dream that everything is possible.
