In a online exhibition and public auction from 28 June to 9 July, Sotheby's will celebrate Italian fashion from the late 50s to the early 80s, period when Paris no longer had a monopoly on couturiers and their Italian counterparts were coming to the fore. On sale 130 high fashion and prêt-à-porter garments, all created by the best Italian designers of the moment, including Emilio Schuberth, Roberto Capucci, Irene Galitzine, Barocco and Balestra, as well as the Parisian house Nina Ricci, which regularly dressed the actress in the 60s.
The sale is an opportunity to acquire items worn by the actress in her everyday life, as well as in some of her major film roles and international film events, including the Academy Awards in Los Angeles; and the Venice, Cannes and Berlin film festivals.
Among most important dresses there is a long dress in fuchsia organza embroidered with floral motifs by Livia, worn by Cardinale for his first appearance at the Cannes Film Festival in 1961. There is a sheath dress entirely covered in black sequins and decorated with pink and blue flowers , by Nina Ricci (Haute Couture collection, autumn-winter 1963-1964), which the actress modeled at the 37th Academy Awards in Los Angeles in 1965 as a presenter alongside Steve McQueen.
Other items recall Cardinale's greatest roles from his period of international fame. Among these, The Pink Panther by Blake Edwards (1963) in which, as Princess Dala, owner of a fabulous diamond coveted by a mysterious thief, she wears elegant palazzo pajamas in ivory shantung embroidered with silver beads, by Irene Galitzine , similar to the one presented in the sale. Then there was The Magnificent Cuckold directed by Antonio Pietrangeli (1964), in which Cardinale wears a cocktail dress trimmed with black petals by Nina Ricci in the film's finale; Francesco Maselli's A Beautiful Couple (1968), in which the actress flanks her co-star Rock Hudson in a leather jacket fastened with multiple shoulder straps; and Mark Robson's Lost Command (1965), with Cardinale in a black bathing suit produced by Cole of California, reunited with his The Leopard co-star Alain Delon.
Capucci, Haute Couture, circa 1964, Muslin cape dress with ostrich feathers | Dress short in mousseline and poignets garnished with plumes
Estimate: 3,500 – 5,000 EUR
Irene Galitzine, Haute Couture 1960, Fishnet bustier dress with ruffled skirt | Robe courte bustier en résille, jupe à volants superposed
Estimate: 3,500 – 5,000 EUR
Irene Galitzine, Haute Couture, circa 1962, Silk shantung “Palazzo pajama” | Palazzo pajama en shantung de soie, pantalon droit 
Livia, Haute Couture, 1961, Dark pink organza dress | Robe longue in fuchsia organza
Estimate: 3,000 – 4,000 EUR
Emilio Schuberth, Haute Couture, Spring-Summer, 1959, Short satin evening dress | Robe du soir courte en satin
Estimate: 4,000 – 6,000 EUR
Balestra, Haute Couture, circa 1970-1974, Ivory organza long dress | Robe longue in ivory organza
Estimate: 3,000 – 4,000 EUR
