Feature: Maria Mandelli, founder of Italian fashion designer Krizia, dies at 90

Founder of world-renowned Italian fashion designer Krizia, Maria Mandelli, died late on Sunday, her MMK group said in a statement released on Monday.

Mandelli would have turned 91 in January.

The company gained a worldwide reputation over 60 years for creating chic yet easy-to-wear clothes and was sold to the Chinese company Shenzhen Marisfrolg Fashion Co Ltd in June 2014.

"Mariuccia, (little Maria) as she was known to all of her friends, was an extraordinary, innovative fashion designer who contributed to creating and sustaining the expression of typically Italian elegance on the international stage," the statement said.

The fashion designer died suddenly, her husband Aldo Pinto at her side, at their house in Italy's fashion capital Milan, according to her assistant who was quoted by Italian media.

Among the many people who offered their condolences to the fashion world, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday also expressed his sympathies to Mandelli's family.

She was a "unique protagonist of fashion and of Made-in-Italy, thanks to her creativity and joy of color," Renzi said.

Born in the northern city of Bergamo in 1925, Mandelli had showed a true passion for fashion as a small child. She enjoyed making dresses for her dolls. Later, she left a stable teaching job for the risky realm of fashion design which was a shock to her family.

With a friend, Flora Dolci, Mandelli rented two rooms in nearby Milan, which became their workshop, and founded the Krizia brand in 1954. The brand name was inspired by an unfinished work by Greek philosopher Plato in which the protagonist squandered his wealth buying dresses and jewelry for beautiful women.

Ten years later, the Krizia brand made its successful catwalk debut in Florence. Mandelli's creations, inspired by contemporary art, architecture, sculpture, cinema and literature, were acclaimed from the very start and soon established a reputation for exploring new developments in fabric technology. Her hot pants and sweater menagerie were among her distinctive features.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Krizia brand received numerous international awards and was the subject of exhibitions by some of the most prestigious museums in the world, including the Guggenheim in New York, the Musee des Arts et de la Mode et du Textile in Paris, and the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Tokyo.

In the 2000s, emerging talents collaborated to create the Krizia collections, including Moroccan Israeli fashion designer Alber Elbaz, who later worked as creative director for the fashion house Lanvin until last October, and Italian fashion designer Giambattista Valli.

In recent years of global economic crisis, the Krizia brand had been struggling with poor revenue. With no children for Mandelli to pass the company on to, Zhu Chongyun, a successful self-made Chinese woman who is the chairman of Shenzhen Marisfrolg Fashion Co Ltd and a designer with some 20 years' experience, became Mandelli's successor.

"I am delighted to have met Zhu. I found myself in complete harmony with her," Mandelli was quoted as saying by the Italian press when she sold her brand last year. "I believe she has the strength and talent to continue our work and lead Krizia's new international successes," the Italian fashion designer underlined.

From her side, Zhu said the brand, although under Chinese ownership, would conserve its Italian roots. She defined herself as a great admirer of Mandelli's pioneering creations and said she was proud to be taking the helm of the Krizia legend to help lead it to even greater heights. The first collection under the new ownership made its debut at the Milan Fashion Week last February. Endit