Sotheby's, diva Claudia Cardinale's clothes up for auction

A diva, Claudia Cardinale, and her clothes. Don't dress just for an extraordinary actress of legendary beauty: Sotheby's is offering online sale of 130 haute couture and prêt-à-porter items from the wardrobe of the XNUMXs icon. These are dresses that were worn on the red carpets of Cannes, Los Angeles, Venice, Berlin as well as in some films in which she participated: The Goddess of Love, Star of the Leopard and The Pink Panther.

Unquestionably beautiful, Claudia Cardinale made men and women dream: for her skill, for the unforgettable characters she played - one above all, Angelica from The Leopard with Visconti - and for her elegance. Beautiful, chic, understated but always sensual dresses which, combined with her extraordinary looks and her extraordinary talent on stage and screen, had her described as a “Goddess of love”, the title of one of her films.

This summer, with the sale from 28 June to 9 July and the Paris pre-sale display of her extraordinary wardrobe, Sotheby's will shine a light on Claudia Cardinale not only for her acting, but also for her perfect way of dressing.

The auction and the exhibition that precedes it will celebrate Italian fashion from the late 50s to the early 80s, a period in which Paris no longer had a monopoly on high fashion and Italy was beginning to establish itself on the international scene. All 130 items in the exhibition and auction were created for Cardinale dai leading Italian stylists of the period including Emilio Schuberth, Roberto Capucci, Irene Galitzine, Barocco and Balestra, as well as the Parisian house Nina Ricci, who regularly dressed the actress in the 60s.

And here is a selection of the dresses with Sotheby's estimates: 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 (estimate: €3.000-€4.000); 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 showed off at the 37th Academy Awards in Los Angeles in 1965 as presenter alongside by Steve McQueen (estimate: €6.000-€8.000).

Other objects recall Cardinale's greatest roles in her period of international fame. Between 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 featured in the auction (estimate: €3.500-€5.000). Then, there is The Magnificent Cuckold (The Magnificent Cuckold) directed by Antonio Pietrangeli (1964), in which Cardinale wears a cocktail dress adorned with black petals by Nina Ricci in the film's final scene (estimate: €2.500-€3.500); Fine Pair (Steal from Your Neighbor) by Francesco Maselli (1968) in which the actress appears alongside co-star Rock Hudson in a leather coat fastened with multiple straps (estimate: €2.000-€3.000); And Lost Command (Neither Honor Nor Glory) by Mark Robson (1965) with Cardinale in black bathing suit made by Cole, California (estimate: €500-€700) and co-star Alain Delon.