Long before Armani, Prada, and Gucci became go-to labels for red-carpet dressing, there was the Casa di Moda Sorelle Fontana, helmed by three intrepid sisters from rural Italy who dressed the world’s biggest celebrity names during Italy’s dolce vita heyday and created a global business in an era when few women even worked. 

In 1943, while WWII continued to rage, siblings Zoe, Micol, and Giovanna Fontana decided, despite the apparent perils, to launch a fashion atelier in Rome, a decision that eventually would help position the Eternal City as a couture capital to rival Paris.